Chapter 1; The Demon of Swords; From Small Beginnings
Word count: 7,527
Age 0
Kenji was born December 31st, 1 second before midnight. And it was during the New Year that all of the events had happened. Kushina and Minato were ecstatic. The only problem is that they have no idea what they had gotten themselves into. That was also when Minato began to research the people who had been there on that night.
When Minato and Kushina began to raise this child, they were happy. Sure Minato was the Hokage and had to work many hours, but Kushina was at home when he wasn't. And when Minato was she was out making sure that she was still in tip top shape, because Kushina still wanted to become the most powerful Kunoichi ever, and the added bonus that, if anyone ever came at their family while Minato was out, she could defend them.
It only took a month for them to realize that Kenji was going to be very, very different.
At one month old, Kenji was crawling. Something babies don't do until they are typically 7 months old. He had also opened his eyes to show a brilliant Shade of emerald, with an odd oval shaped pupil that stretched to the top and bottom of his eye, and it also seemed that he could see perfectly. Something even scarier, about a week later he was walking and not even a few days he was running. Kushina nearly had a heart attack. From what she could remember, Shinobi babies (especially the Uzumaki) were only supposed to crawl at 3 months, and then run at 4 months. Not to mention he was growing at an astounding rate, looking more like 10 months rather than the 4 months he was. Kenji obviously wasn't that patient.
So maybe she shouldn't have been surprised that one day, after coming back from a play date with Itachi (Kushina and Mikoto Uchiha have been best friends forever, and Itachi was only 2 years old) she had found him running on the walls. She blamed the Juubi for that. That had been at 6 months of age. She couldn't very well ask how, considering he couldn't speak.
She also blamed the fact that not even a few weeks later he spoke. At first she had been worried that something was wrong, after all his nose had scrunched up in concentration. He had also stopped moving, another indicator that something was wrong, he hadn't stopped to sit still at all since he could move, much to her chagrin. Then he had opened his mouth and very slowly spoke a word.
At least the fact that he said momma softened the shock on her heart.
When she had rushed all the way to the Hokage's tower to share the good news, face running with tears, and showed that he could say momma. Minato was so happy; he accidently flared his chakra, and ended up on the other side of the office. When he tried to get Kenji to say his name, Kenji, had scrunched his nose in concentration and then said hat.
Minato may have face planted… Just a little.
Kenji had just laughed and said daddy. Minato's expression had done a 180, and he was crowing to the roof tops. That day, there were whispers beginning to take up around the village. Excited murmurs of a prodigy that would be better than Kakashi.
At 8 months of age he was potty trained, and very soon after he could name several things in his surroundings, the bed was one thing he refused to talk about, he seemed to hate the thing.
He truly was living up to his name as the twice study. Although something that had Kushina very confused, was the fact that it seemed at times he could tell where she and Minato were in the house at any given time.
One time, when Kushina had put him to bed, she had noticed that his breathing patterns hadn't changed. It looked like was faking being asleep. So she had asked him about it. And in his disjointed words, it sounded like he never slept. It was like he literally could not sleep at all, and he never had. And when she asked what it was he did, he told her played with three wolves, a cat, and one who was a wolf, but seemed like a cat at times. She had no clue as to what that meant so she let it drop. Although she had started to let him stay awake longer.
During that time, Kenji had fallen into the habit of retreating into his inner world, and there the wolf-who-seemed-like-a-cat had taught him how to sense his chakra (That warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach). Ever since, he was taught to keep constantly aware of it through disjointed images. Just like how he had taught him how to run on walls.
At 9 months he could speak in sentences using basic vocabulary. She had also found out that he could see chakra. It went something like this:
"Hey momma?" Kenji asked, making that face that meant he did something bad.
"What is it honey?" She had asked, although she was worried that perhaps he had done something bad.
"What is that blue stuff around you that when you get angry turns red, and why does dad have yellow around him?" He had asked her.
'That sounds like chakra!' She thought, though she only said, "Why do you ask?"
"Well… I may have… sorta… seen you training, inthatplaceyoutoldmenevertogoto….." He rushed out.
"What!" She had said in a dangerous voice.
"Eep!" he squeaked, and took off down the hall, her not two feet behind him.
She had forgotten about it for a while, but later she had remembered, and she had brought it up to Minato. And he had said that it was probably a part of the Juubi.
At 10 months, Kenji had begun to speak with bigger words, and he also looked like a 2 year old. Kushina was freaking out; however, there wasn't anything she could do about it.
At 11 months he could run on water, something she had found out when she had taken him to learn how to swim. When she had asked how he had learned, he had said the wolf had taught him how. She figured he meant the Juubi. At that she had figured that's who he meant earlier. The behavior that the Juubi had exhibited last they met, had calmed her growing concern down a bit. She still told Minato, though he wasn't too worried.
His birthday was a great one, Minato had given him unsharpened kunai and shuriken (Kushina twitching eyebrow and rising hair had promised a talk later). Kushina had given him a two red sashes that was too big, and he decided to wear like arm bandages. He had gotten a matching friendship bracelet from Itachi (Yin and Yang, Kenji getting the Yin). And a bunch of different colored shirts from Mikoto. Fugaku, Itachi's father had just given him a good once over, and a handshake. Everything else was just small gifts that weren't very important in Kenji's eyes. After that, the birthday party had come to a close so that everyone could celebrate the New Year.
Thus a year had passed and nothing very bad had seemed to happen, although Kushina could do without all the surprises.
Age 1
Something that Kenji realized soon was that not everyone could see like him. After all he could see almost in 360 degrees and, when he focused, through walls and far off places. So Kenji began to read very soon after his realization, trying to figure it out. He began to read everything he could get his hand on. Slowly he gained a wide vocabulary. It wasn't long before he came across Kekkei Genkais, and the only one that described it was the Byakugan. Bewildered on how he could have gotten such a ability, and also realizing that this could cause loads of trouble he decided to drop the matter. Although the only thing that never matched up was that it didn't seem to take up any known noticeable chakra, also his chakra paths never bulged out on the sides of his eyes, and they were green instead of the white that the Hyuuga's were.
He still read a lot though, and it was around half way through the year that he got his hands on some history scrolls. That sparked something in Kenji. Very soon, he couldn't be seen without his face in a scroll about past events. And very soon, with Kushina's presence of course (Sometimes at night Kenji would sneak into the library but no one needs to know that), he began to make frequent visits to the library, where he checked out book after book. And very soon he had gone through half the scrolls and books on past events.
There was a time where Minato had asked him what he was doing, since reading was all he had been doing recently.
Kenji had replied, "Well the Cat wanted to know what had happened while he was gone, and I was curious too."
Minato figured, as long as it wasn't doing any harm, its okay. Plus his son was showing a lot of healthy curiosity so that's a plus. "Okay, you go ahead and read as much as you like, it's always good to know what happened in the past so you can learn from their mistakes." He did want to know who the cat was. However, his son was much too young to be able to articulate just who the Cat was. So the only choice he had was to let it go, or bring in a Yamanaka to find out what it was.
He wasn't going to do that.
Besides Minato was also secretly hoping that he would take after him and be a pacifist, but no one needs to know that.
That's why Minato was seen to hang his head in despair when, soon after, Kenji announced he wanted to become a Shinobi.
The day before his birthday Kenji met three people he would always remember. Their names were Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, the pupils of Jiraiya. And when they would meet next, the group wouldn't be the same.
Age 2
When Kenji had reached two, he had known exactly what he wanted to do, and how to get there. He was going to become the strongest Shinobi ever to exist. Not just the strongest Shinobi, he was going to become the strongest person ever. Stronger than even the sage of six paths, he was going to be. All because he was done with the way this world was set up.
Although there were two problems; one he didn't have a teacher, and two he wasn't sure how to do that.
There were many things that made him want to do this, but the most prominent were the past two Shinobi wars. The people those had devastated, its unnatural how no one did anything. But that was going to end soon.
One thing that definitely helped was his perceptiveness. You see Kenji wasn't stupid; in fact one off the things that was stunning was his ability to put two and two together. You see he didn't just read his history just for the Cat, he did it for himself (and believe it or not, he actually enjoyed history). After all, he had heard of imaginary friends, but what these three did for him was unusual to say the least. Who can say that their imaginary friend helped them walk on water? He didn't know any. The five in his mind even had their own names, the wolf who was black and white was named Dawn. And the Lion who he always referred to as Cat, was known as Dusk. And the other wolf, which confused him because of his feline tendencies, and eyes, was named Onmyodo, but he just called him Onmy. The other two were also really weird. There was the pure white wolf named Arc, and the really energetic black wolf named Bone.
Not to mention, the Wolf, who didn't seem like a wolf, and the Lion, who didn't seem like a lion, seemed to be brothers. And the white wolf and the black one seemed to be related too, they acted like brothers. Also they both seemed to respect Dawn, yet were very distant.
Dawn and Dusk also had unique eyes. Dawn had purple eyes that were ringed, and Dusk had white pupil-less eyes. Sometimes when Arc got really mad his eyes would flash red. It seemed like the Arc believed Bone to be weaker, making Kenji believed he was the older brother with a superiority complex. He kind of reminded him of the Uchiha at times, except for Itachi of course.
So what Kenji had done, was research more and more into the past, because these people couldn't be a figment of his imagination.
The only thing even remotely similar to these descriptions was the tale of the sage of six paths. Hagoromo Otosutsuki was Dawn, and Hamura Otosutsuki was Dusk. Ashura was Bone and Indra Arc. However, the only other pivotal person in the tale was the Juubi. That meant that Kenji was Onmy's Jinchuuriki. Although how they all had gotten into the seal he had no idea. Didn't Hagoromo disband the Juubi into nine other constructs, all today's Bijuu?
So he did some more research. Until he found a mention that the Bijuu were just essentially large sentient chakra constructs. So who's to say that Hagoromo, Hamura, Indra, and Ashura weren't just sentient chakra constructs that were imprinted with the consciousnesses of their past hosts? Although how they had managed to seal a beast that almost no one knows about into him, and one that was supposed to be disbanded into the nine Tailed-Beasts.
Maybe Kenji did read too much. After all, no one else really knows about the Juubi.
So when he confronted his parents about his imaginary friends he wasn't very surprised to find out the truth. The only thing that had really shocked him was the fact that he was supposed to die, but he was saved by the Sage, his brother, and the Juubi.
Wasn't the Juubi supposed to hate all life? So, he decided to do more research and this lead to him finding out that even before Ninshu, the thing created to connect everyone that was eventually weaponized, people still were at war. That made Kenji think; what had been done in the past? Then he remembered the legend stated that he was created by Kaguya to take the last of the chakra and return it to her. However that was the wrong way to go about it. One of the main problems is miscommunication. People always misinterpret how things are said, or what they mean by it. So that's one thing he has to fix. There is also the fact that if it's too similar to a hive mind, they'll be mindless. There is some food for thought, later.
Kaguya, a woman who had started out attempting to find world peace, and ended up becoming a tyrant to addicted to her own power. 'That'll be a problem' Kenji had thought. 'I don't want to end up being a tyrant to all the people.'
Kenji let out a sigh. This was going to take a long time to time to figure out. At least he's got a lot of time.
Just then, Kenji noticed an influx of ninjas running to and from the Hokage tower, most looking very worried, and others looking grim. Worried about his father, Kenji sent off to the tower to find out what was going on.
What he didn't know was that the beginning of the Third Shinobi war had begun, and he would get to become a Shinobi much faster than he had expected.
Age 3
The next year, for his birthday present from his father, he began to go to the academy. This way, Minato knew that this way Kenji could learn the skills to protect himself, and because both he and his wife were a part of the active forces.
However what Minato didn't expect, was for his son to already know all the basics due to his studies. Not to mention, the training he had already done for his body in private, and his ability to see chakra, and copy flow that way.
The way he found out about that though, was when one day his son had watched him make a couple Kage Bushin. And then he recreated the technique. That was when they learned about his Byakugan like eyes.
Minato had been sitting at his desk, working on paperwork, when his son had burst into the room jumping for joy.
"I did it dad! I did it!" Kenji had been shouting.
"You did what? What did you do?" Minato had asked, with a lot of curiosity I might add.
"Here, you've got to see it to believe it!" Kenji had said. And then he scrunched up his nose like did when he concentrated on something. And then… he put his hand in a very familiar cross seal.
"Wait a min-"Minato had started to say. Until he was interrupted by the sound of a summoning Jutsu, and suddenly there were five Kenjis.
"Oh no… Oh crap… Kushina is going to kill me. And this time, I didn't do anything." Minato said, and then proceeded to cower in the corner of the room.
While at the same time, across the town, Kushina's hair had begun to rise into tails. "Huh, I wonder what Minato did this time."
Kenji had been very confused by the reaction. And decided to also inform his father that he was also ready to graduate, after all he had finished everything that he could do in the academy. Too much reading will do that to you. Plus Kenji had made full use of being able to see chakra.
So on October 10th, Kenji graduated from the academy with way over the top scores, and he was apprenticed to Minato.
That was also around the time that he met his best friends, Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha.
He had been in a place he frequented. It was a mini lake surrounded by hundreds of trees. A place he came to both meditate and practice his water walking. At the time he had been doing both, he was sitting cross-legged in the center of the lake. This time he was working on his ability to multitask. It was around an hour into the training, when two kids had come into the clearing at full speed laughing and about to jump into the water when they both stopped.
To them it was odd to see what looked like a kid around their age sitting on top of the water, and also meditating. That was something that they had only seen their older clan members doing.
At the same time Kenji was wondering what they were up to, because they had even started whispering amongst themselves. Then he realized that one of those chakra signatures (he had been practicing on being able to sense chakra without the Byakugan) was someone that was familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on which it was nor who it was. He had been so far lost in thought he hadn't realized that one of them had called out to him.
"Hey!" the one with spiky hair had called out.
Realizing that he wasn't going to get anything done while they were here, he replied, "Hello."
"I haven't seen you around before, what's your name?" the same boy asked.
"My name is Kenji. What are yours?"
"My name is Shisui, and the quiet one's name is Itachi. Say how are you doing that?" the spiky haired boy asked.
"Well, this is a chakra control exercise normally done after you learn tree walking."
"Whoa! Can you teach me how to do that?" Shisui's eyes lit up.
"Uh, sure, I guess. Just give me a second," Kenji said, getting up on top of the water and walking towards them. "Well, what do you know about chakra control?" Kenji asked when he had stopped right in front of them.
"Well we've mastered the leaf sticking exercise, thought Itachi learned it faster." Shisui grumbled.
"Hmm. Okay, so what I want you to do, is to stick twenty leaves at a time. They are to be on the backs and fronts of your hands, your forehead, the soles of your feet, the inside and out for your elbows, same for your knees, your shoulders, and your sternum and bellybutton." Kenji instructed.
"Aww man, this is gonna take forever."
"Best we get started then." Itachi said.
The rest of that afternoon was full of frustrated sighs, cries of triumph, and the occasional grunt.
They met there at least once a week after that day. And have been friends ever since.
Later that year, they both graduated early at six, their first year at the academy. And they joined Kenji in his insane training schedule (unknown to the rest of the Uchiha of course)
The next couple of months for Kenji were hell, the training was hell. Did Kenji ever mention how much he hated his father? And why, oh why, did his mother decide that she could help too? It was official, weights suck, so does Kenjutsu (His mother was scary good at it), and Taijutsu (Gai's training is brutal); did he mention his love (Hatred) for Genjutsu (How Kurenai plans to be a Genjutsu mistress is mind boggling)? He had only the fact that he had crazy imagination (if you counted his imaginary friends, who weren't really imaginary) and barely adequate control to be saving graces. At least he was pretty good at Ninjutsu, even if mom had forbidden certain techniques.
He never had very much free time; though every little bit he spent with Itachi and Shisui, and they soon became his best friends. They talked about many things, and trained lots. And very soon into the war, Itachi began to wonder, what was the point of it all? That was around the time they all realized they wanted to be pacifists, and to bring peace.
Then his birthday came around, and Kenji had never worn anything ninja like for his year at the academy, and for the past few months, instead opting for plain black pants, a silver shirt, and his red sashes on his arms. Even though he was definitely able to, something about being the Juubi's Jinchuuriki had accelerated his growth so that he looked like he was seven. (Most children seem to look about two years older than they are supposed to, and the clans three years, but that was due to chakra in everyone helping with development) So when he had been given money to buy him an outfit (and some for weapons too) acceptable for a Genin, he was ecstatic. As well as a new sash, this one emerald in shade.
In the end, He settled for getting black knee-high combat boots, same matching closed fitting jeans, lined with seals for maneuverability and strengthening, as well as chakra conduits. He also got a silver long-sleeved hooded jacket with lots of pockets sewn in on the inside, underneath a black V-neck, where on the back a mix between the Namikaze and Uzumaki clan symbols were embroidered, also full of space for seals. He also had bought forearm length gloves with metal on the back of the hand, and fingerless tips, even though the length was hidden under his jacket, it did serve as more protection, and surface area for his seals. Some of which, were chakra conductors, gravity, and storage seals. Not to mention, they hid the actual weights that Minato was making him wear so that he could access the full "Namikaze speed". His sashes, he lined with seals, gravity and storages, and wrapped them like bandages under his boots. There were also more weight on his ankles and underneath his V-neck were more gravity seals. He chose to wear the new sash as a scarf, and laced it with protective seals, all the seals done by him.
With his money for weapons, he bought as many senbon, kunai, and shuriken possible, and utilized his many new seals. He also had his father help commission a bunch of Hiraishin Kunai, because it wasn't long before he reached that level. Thank god for Kage Bushins.
This outfit wasn't going to change anytime soon, though the gravity seals keep getting upped and the weights heavier. Thank god for the Juubi, else his muscles wouldn't be able to keep up.
Age 4
Kenji spent almost the whole entire year under Minato's tutelage whenever he wasn't off fighting the war with his people.
Eventually, He reached the point where he was adept enough at Fuinjutsu, that he began to train for the Hiraishin (He was technically a seal master; he had been studying it almost all of his life, and he had picked it up at a terrifying rate). The only drawback, his father believed in the trial by fire way. So not only was Kenji stuck on trying to learn how to properly flow his chakra to activate it. He was also constantly being attacked from what felt like all sides by his father, who he himself was using the technique. The Kunai weren't exactly dull either. It was during this time of extreme stress that something that makes absolutely makes no sense happened.
Kenji activated the Sharingan.
It was at the point where his father had gotten to a speed that Kenji couldn't predict due to. When gradually, he could be able to predict where his father was going to be next. Then it activated, and he got a whole lot better at dodging. When his father had started to tell him that wasn't the point of the exercise, he had stopped midsentence.
"What's wrong?" Kenji asked.
"Yo-Your eyes," His father said, "the-they are…"
"What? What about my eyes?"
His father had just disappeared in a yellow flash, and reappeared with a hand held mirror.
He handed it to Kenji, and when he looked at his eyes, they both had a tomoe circling the pupil. The odd part was that his eyes were still the old emerald green but now there were flecks of red.
"Oh my Kami, Kushina is going to murder me. Why me? Why does this keep on happening to me?" Minato said.
"Dad? Dad?" but he was too far gone.
"DAD!"
Minato jumped at least a foot in the air. "Ye-Yes?"
"I'll tell her."Kenji said. Immediately he was wrapped in a choking hug, and being showered with thousands of thanks.
"But first, let's explore this huh?" Kenji said. Shifting back into a fighting stance
Later that day…
To say Minato was worried, was an understatement. Kushina was known for the physical torture of those that upset her. And how their son got a Green Sharingan was something that would most definitely end in the immediate punishment of whoever was overseeing his training.
That meant Minato.
'Well, it was a good life! I won't be walking away from this conversation alive.' Minato couldn't help but think. And it was with heavy feet that he begun to approach their house.
When they had entered the house, they had found Kushina in the kitchen making them some lunch. Though for some odd reason, every now and then her hair would form into nine distinct tails, very similar to when she was angry. And it seemed like, according to her muttered words, she couldn't find out why.
"H-Hey, H-Honey," the fourth Hokage seemed to strengthen himself, "there is something we have to tell you." Then he pushed Kenji forward and all but cowered in the corner.
'So much for strengthening himself, He just threw me to the wolf!' Kenji thought. Kushina seemed to get aggravated for no reason. 'Albeit, a very very scary wolf.'
"Well, you see, I may have, kind of, sort of, discovered that… IhavetheSharingananditactivatedwhileweweretraining." Kenji rushed out.
Kushina just stared for a second, and then said, "Let me see." Inside Kenji was freaking out badly, because a calm Kushina is scarier than a mad Kushina.
So Kenji activated his Sharingan, and waited till she got a good look. Then as soon as he saw the chance he ran at his dad all but screaming "Use the Hiraishin!"
However, Kushina didn't let him, nor did she let her husband get away. Instead, in a burst of surprising speed, she dragged them both by the ears and forced them to sit down.
This was unusual indeed.
"The Sharingan isn't the only big news we have in the family, though I will want a full explanation," the two males sank in their chairs, "no, in fact we have some very good news." She smiled, "We are about to have a new family member."
Both males sat there and stared at her for a moment, before understanding dawned on their faces.
In a flash of yellow, and surprisingly silver, they were both by her side instantly asking a ton of questions. She raised her hand and they both stopped talking.
"I don't know all the details; I did just take the test this morning. So let's eat lunch while we discuss what we are going to do." Kushina said whilst hustling them into chairs and putting bowls of ramen in front of them. After serving her own she sat down, and then smiled sickeningly sweet and said, "Also, before I forget, what is this business about the Sharingan? And isn't only supposed to activate under extreme stress?" Both males paled, knowing they could escape, lest they face a hormonal pregnant woman later, not to mention they weren't willing to leave her defenseless.
That month, Kenji learned just how much his mom had been holding back on training, though at least he learned the Hiraishin, and he completed the Sharingan.
It was in September, when the war had ended. Although it was far from easy, it had taken Minato decimating Iwagakure's army for the war to finally end. It had hurt the pacifist bad.
Really bad.
He wasn't Hokage for nothing; instead he hadn't shown his emotion on the matter except for the day he had gotten back.
He had broken down in Kushina's arms, alone inside their house. He cried for all those live lost, and that the war had to be ended this way.
That was the only time Kenji had seen his father cry.
The next day Kushina announced that there was going to be twins. A boy and a girl.
It was October 10th when Kushina was coming to the end of her pregnancy. When she found herself rushed off with a midwife this time, a one Biwako Sarutobi and her apprentice Taji, she wasn't prepared. The babies were early. She was whisked away from the village after having learned that she was going to have twins, and it might just possibly weaken the seal just enough.
It turned out, that she would always have problems with birth, as it was not seconds after both her beautiful children were born, that a stranger had come and murdered the ANBU, Biwako, and Taji. Very soon after, the masked stranger was threatening one of her babies with a kunai.
Sending out a very minor pulse of chakra through the Hiraishin mark on her heart, she summoned Minato.
Meanwhile, Kenji had been waiting with his father when suddenly he disappeared in a yellow flash and in the middle of a sentence while he was talking to Jiraiya, the toad Sannin.
"Put the village on alert, Minato wouldn't have been summoned unless something was wrong." Jiraiya nodded. "I'm going after him." Kenji said.
"Wait! You don't know wha-" but it was too late, Kenji had already disappeared in a silver flash.
Kenji had flashed in front of his mother, while a man was clashing with his father. No matter what Minato did, he couldn't seem to land a hit. His mother seemed to be having trouble keeping consciousness, so she hadn't really registered Kenji in the room.
If she had, she would have stopped him from sneaking behind the masked stranger. As it was, no one had really noticed his entrance (probably due to his masked chakra). When the masked man had taken a step back, Kenji had taken the chance, and he planted his palm firmly on the back of the man (later when he was asked why he had done it, he would reply with a statement that it was pure instinct).
The result, was that the man flickered, and Kenji felt a rush of Chakra, and something else hidden in there flow into him.
The man's reflex had him back hand Kenji across the room, When Minato flashed and caught him. Flashing again, Minato placed him next to his mom and new sibling, before resuming the fight. A few more clashes of metal and Kenji had recovered from whatever it is he had just done. All of the sudden, the masked man threw his sibling in the air, and had reappeared next to him and his mother. Although when Kenji had attempted to swipe at him with a Kunai, The man had disappeared with his mother. Minato had grabbed the baby, and with an unspoken agreement Kenji picked up his new sibling, and they both flashed away.
Reappearing in front of Jiraiya, Minato had done nothing but had off the baby boy to him before flashing away.
"We have a problem." Kenji said whilst he stared at his younger sister. "I don't know what the man was planning, but he has shown an interest in my mom. And he now has her in an unknown place. He might be after the Kyuubi."
"Okay, you tell the Third Hokage, I'll start the evacuation." Jiraiya said handing off his brother.
It had been only minutes before what Kenji feared would happen did.
The Kyuubi appeared in the middle of the village, his vile chakra and killing instinct was billowing across the town outright stopping the hearts of lesser Shinobi.
"Oh no." Kenji muttered, "We're too late."
The Kyuubi had been released. That also means that his mom was either dead, or dying. Although, since she was an Uzumaki, she might still have a chance.
That means he has to find her, and he wouldn't trust anyone be able to look after his siblings except maybe Itachi (he was probably looking after his younger siblings), Shisui, or the pupils of Jiraiya (though he hasn't heard from them in a long time). There isn't enough time, and Kenji never thought to put his mark on them for the Hiraishin. Not to mention the last three were in Amegakure, though he and Nagato were related.
Kanji grunted in frustration, there just wasn't enough time. He was debating what to do, when all of the sudden the Kyuubi started to charge up something. The sheer amount of Chakra it was summoning would decimate the town.
'Oh no, that's a tailed beast bomb!' The Juubi whispered from his mind. 'The scale of that one alone will wipe out Konohagakure, how are we going to fix this?' When suddenly a massive cloud of smoke appeared and a massive toad came out with his father riding on top.
"Gamabunta!" Kenji cried out, "It seems that dad does have a plan." Right after that was said, a massive blast of yellow, and his father, Gamabunta, and the Kyuubi all vanished, and in the far distant horizon, you could see the devastating blast of chakra. Even its shockwaves could be felt.
"Dad needs help; there isn't a way to deal with the Kyuubi unless you seal him." Kenji said. "What do I do?"
'You already have a solution, but you won't like it.' Dawn muttered.
'You mean his siblings, right?' Dusk said.
"Even if I did accept that, the result would end in the person dying!"
'It doesn't seem like there is another choice. Especially because you wouldn't let someone you can't protect become a Jinchuuriki.' The Juubi stated, 'Look at it this way, it'd be killing two birds with one stone, one less person to look after.'
Bone popped into the conversation for a second, and he was very serious for once, 'Just think of it this way, you'll be protecting your precious people and there isn't much else you can do.'
Arc didn't say much but for once he spoke, 'Never back away from responsibility'
All of them just nodded.
'But which one, whom do I leave with such a burden?' Kenji thought 'What if I… That might work. Though there may be repercussions, yes they will be bad. ' Kenji nodded to himself
'You truly want me to go along with this? If it goes wrong, there will be no survivors.' The Juubi asked.
'Yes, I do, otherwise there will be nothing left after it all, Dawn can attest to that.' Kenji thought 'There is no going back now.'
Just in that moment his father flashed in front of him, "Kenji, listen, I need you to hand over your siblings. There isn't time to explain." Minato rushed out of breath.
"No."
"What?" Minato was shocked.
"You're taking me with you. Now flash us there." Kenji commanded.
Dumbfounded Minato did just that. Suddenly they were on top of Gamabunta, who was fighting fiercely with a rampaging fox. The chakra alone almost made Kenji knees buckle, let alone the Killing Intent. It was suffocating.
But Kenji had a plan, and he wouldn't let anything stop him.
Kenji took charge.
"Gamabunta? I'm going to need you to hold the Kyuubi down, for at least a minute. Minato don't let this window go to waste. I need you to grab Kaa-san this is important, don't let this chance waste. I've got one chance, and I don't need you guys questioning me now. Okay?" Kenji's voice taking an air of command.
"This is one heck of a child you've got yourself Minato. It sounds like he's got a plan. Best we follow, unless if you have one." Minato shook his head, and flashed away.
Gamabunta and the Kyuubi clashed, and in a last chance tactic, Gamabunta drew his gigantic tanto and forced it through three tails and deep into the ground.
"I don't know how long that'll hold, you'll need to hurry." Gamabunta said whilst dodging the flailing six tails.
"Good thing I'm here." Minato said. Kushina was behind him standing and looking more or less as though she had little Chakra left.
"Kaa-san, I need to know. Can you form enough Chakra chains to restrain the Kyuubi?" Kenji asked.
"Yes." She said, nothing but conviction and determination lacing her voice.
"Alright Tou-san, we are going to have to resort to it, the Eight Trigrams Seal right?" Kenji asked.
"Yeah, but… Wait you can't mean to-"
"Do you have another way?"Kenji asked,"It's the only way, and don't worry, I have a plan."
Frowning Minato was about to object when Kushina hit him. Hard. "If he has a plan, he has a plan."
Kenji muttered his plan fast, and right when he finished Gamabunta called out. "You better be done, because I won't be able to hold him back any longer."
Then the Kyuubi broke free. Gamabunta dispelled in the hopes of giving them cover in the smoke. Kushina's reaction was instantaneous, Chains of Chakra sprouted from her back and spread all around the Kyuubi forcing it to the ground. "If it's the last thing I do, I will stop you here!" She shouted.
Minato wasn't very far behind, he plucked the babies out of Kenji's arms carefully, and placed them on the ground and right after, he was blurring through hand signs. When he finished he placed a hand on the twin's bellies and you could see his chakra flare right before signs began to appear surrounding them, and finally stretching out to the Kyuubi.
But it wasn't fast enough. One of the Kyuubi's tails managed to free itself and was heading towards Minato, and Kushina was busy concentrating on the chains. It was going to kill him.
"No." Kenji's voice echoed. Then Chakra burst in a torrent so strong anyone not Mid-ANBU to Kage leveled would have been flattened instantly burst from Kenji.
Then he spoke a phrase the world hadn't heard since before Ninjutsu, excluding a certain red haired male.
"Deva path: Shinra Tensei."
The effect was noticeable and instant. The Kyuubi's tail stopped, and very suddenly reversed direction, slamming into the ground with scary intensity, creating a ravine.
If anyone had looked at Kenji, they would see his green eyes were now glowing and ringed, they also had new flecks of purple and took up his whole eye now.
When the sprawling signs finally reached the Kyuubi, Minato called out the final words. "Eight Trigrams Seal!" Channeling his chakra, he forced the Kyuubi to split his Chakra, separating it into Yin and Yang and sealing it into his daughter and son respectively.
Then the Kyuubi vanished and Minato was about to collapse when he stiffened. Kushina had wearily made her way over, before she collapsed next to Minato.
"I've finally decided on names."
"Oh?" Minato said.
"Yes, their names shall be Naruto, and Naruko."
"Ah, the Maelstrom and the Ringing Child, I think it fits."
"Yes, I believe they will grow to be great."
Kenji walked closer, and was engulfed in a hug from both Minato and Kushina. "It's good to see we'll be leaving them in such good hands." Minato sid
When Kenji opened his eyes, he could see what was hanging over both of his parents.
The reaper had come.
"No." Kenji mumbled.
"What was that?" Kushina asked.
"No." Kenji said louder.
"What do you mean?" Minato asked.
"No." Kenji all but shouted and stood up, gently shaking off his parents arms. "You will not take these two, Death! I won't allow it!" Kenji shouted at the apparition. "Not while I still draw breath!"
Kenji calmed his mind, and he felt Dawn gasp.
When he opened them, His ringed eyes pulsed with power.
"Son, what are you doing?" Minato asked.
"I will save them, if you plan on opposing me." The Reaper just stared into his eyes. "Just watch me." Kenji said.
His eyes focused, and his chakra flared to new heights.
"Naraka Path: Reviving Cloud"
A new structure appeared, and this time it was a demonic head whose eyes were green and ringed with flecks of purple. It took in a deep breath, and expelled it over Minato and Kushina, who were shocked and curious as to what was going on. All of the suddenly, they were looking healthier and stronger, right before his eyes.
To them, they could see the reaper fade away and leave their vision.
Kenji was still staring defiantly at the reaper, and the new construct of his faded back into the ground.
Kenji started to wonder what would happen now, when Death merely bowed.
It bowed.
After which it faded away.
Minato rushed over, and checked his son for injuries. Kushina wasn't far behind. When they were sure that he was fine they both hugged him.
For an instant they both flickered, and their Chakra reserves lowered severely. And then Kenji promptly collapsed
Minato checked him over again and sighed. "It's just from Chakra exhaustion."
"What just happened?" Kushina asked, after she picked up the new Jinchuuriki twins
"I think our son just cheated death for us."
A/N Wow this chapter took a long time, just ironing out the first five years of Kenji's life whilst trying to fit everything I wanted into it was hard. I know I missed a lot, but it's giving me a headache so I won't tweak this until later. And before anyone asks, yes Kenji will be OP for a while, but don't worry; it won't always stay like that. I have some big plans for Kenji. And yes this is going to be vastly different than the actual story line. Also Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato will make many appearances. By the way, keep in mind that Kenji has five people in his mind with years of experience and knowledge, not to mention the Juubi enhancing the growth rate of his body and mind.
Coming next: Kenji's years until Naruto and Naruko are in the Academy. Minato and Kushina are alive, Naruto has a twin sister, and Kenji has the three great Dojutsus. Not to mention, the odd personalities in his mind that match some very specific people. And it's only the beginning. Itachi and Shisui learn more and are stronger because of it. (Let's see if any of you caught the thing about Itachi earlier). And what the hell is with people flickering when he touches them!