Disclaimer: The following events are not true. They are merely the deranged writings of a madman. He has no claim to the characters portrayed within, and has submitted this document to be read at your discretion.

Blood of the Fox

Seals are weird, the Yondaime Hokage thought to himself as he stood on the back of Gamabunta. He lifted a tiny bell in his hand, and contemplated what it meant.

Namikaze Minato was truly an unparalleled genius when it came to the sealing arts. From the notes left behind by the Nidaime Hokage he was able to recreate the fabled Hiraishin no Jutsu, and then improve on it with extreme ease, even incorporating it into other seals. So when his wife-to-be informed him of the properties of the masks in the Uzumaki Shrine, and their relation to summoning a somewhat controllable manifestation of the Shinigami, he just had to see them for himself.

After studying the sealing array for thirty minutes, he stood up and proclaimed he could do better. After two weeks of work, and only half that of sleep, Minato emerged from the miniature exile with proof of his statement.

A tiny hand-bell, no more than two inches wide at the mouth and four inches long, was in his hand. Excitedly, he explained that he didn't write seals on the bell, but the bell was made of seals. It was the pinnacle of his career as a master of fuinjutsu. And he knew he couldn't let anyone else use it. So he made a special storage seal, and carried the bell within himself as his fiancé carried the Kyubi.

Until tonight.

It should have been one of the happiest days of his life, the day his son was to be born. Instead everything went wrong. His wife lay dying and a supposedly long dead legend from the past was trying to destroy his village using the demon that was supposed to be contained in his wife. He knew he couldn't truly hurt the demon, for it was far too powerful. And the masked man had so far proved to be impossible to harm. With a heavy heart, and some fear, he had summoned his bell.

Supposedly, with one ring, he could use it to call forth the death god, and command it. He knew there would be a price to pay. All summoning jutsus had cost. Usually it was just a little blood and chakra, enough to bridge both space and time and bring them to their summoner. Sometimes the summons wanted more. The Toads liked to indulge their personal vices. The Snakes wanted lives given to them.

Who knew what a god would want.

It was surprisingly light for the power it had. Even though there was no real base object, it felt like it was made of silver, but heavily tarnished and dented. The sealing formula itself was hidden, unable to be seen. But curving around the outside of the bell was a peculiar phrase:

"The Great Ones that inhabit the nightmare are sympathetic in spirit, and often answer when called upon."

Minato didn't know what it meant or where it came from. The phrase itself was never in any of his sealing arrays, but it was possible this phrase was a summary of the bell's purpose. And the reason why he thought seals were weird. Even when you knew what they would do, they could still surprise you in how they did what they did.

Steeling his nerves, he rang the bell.

A smooth, pure note was heard by all, and all stopped.

The full moon presided over the battlefield, and now it heralded the arrival of something Great. With startling speed, its pale face turned crimson, and a shadow appeared in front of the moon.

All eyes, even that of the biju, turned to look. And at that moment, Minato truly understood the power in fuinjutsu.

It was terrible.

Its body was horrifically thin, covered in red, sinewy muscle flexing with far more than the usual joints enjoyed by humans. The torso was almost non-existent, instead appearing to be nothing more than a spinal column and a massively distended rib cage that had more in common with fangs than actual ribs. And where its head should be was instead a mass of writhing tentacles, shifting and moving of their own volition. The face was nothing more than a misshapen lump of bone with the vague appearance of having eyes and maybe a mouth.

Slowly, it came to rest on the ground, it's mask-like face focused on Minato. But as it drew near, he realized it wasn't focused on him, but rather the bundle he carried. It was focused on his son. Licking his lips in anticipation, Minato stepped forward and addressed the creature, "Please, O great one! Use your power, and seal the great beast into my son! It's destroying my village, and great trials await him. I offer myself as sacrifice, if that is your desire!"

In a strangely graceful move, the Terrible Thing shifted closer, and looked deeply into the child. Cocking its head to the side, a lone tendril came out and gently wiped a drop of blood off the boy, and deposited it into one of the holes of its face. It then reached out, and pulled a body out of the foliage near Gamabunta's feet. It was Kushina, Minato's wife and the baby's mother, shortly dead from both chakra exhaustion and the terrible wound inflicted on her by the Kyubi itself. It's head than snapped around and came close to Minato, and he looked back, staring into the bone-like face. And despite the being's appearance, he felt a raw, powerful emotion sweep through it, so much like what he was feeling.

GREIF. LOSS. SORROW.

It looked into Minato, and in that moment he gained insight, and understood what it was asking.

"Yes, he is of my blood, and I will give you my blood that he could grow strong and save our home."

ACCEPTANCE. SORROW. It reached out again, with impossible gentleness, and traced a seal on the child's bare stomach: A small, diamond shape, open at the bottom, bisected by a line twice as tall as the diamond. It looked again into the baby's face, and gently ran a tentacle/finger down his cheek. HOPE. JOY. LOVE.

With a gesture, space twisted and distorted, and a doll landed next to Minato. It looked like a woman in strange clothing, with pale hair and equally pale skin.

Suddenly a tendril shot forward, and impaled Minato. Numbly, he realized he could feel it drawing his blood out. It didn't hurt like he thought it should. Then another tendril stabbed the doll, and as he felt his life draining out he saw the doll move on its own. Her eyes slowly blinked, and she gasped looking up at the creature.

"Why am I here?"

She tilted her head to the side, as though listening to something. She then smiled and nodded to the being, "Of course," before standing up and straightening her dress. She moved over to Minato, and held out her arms. Despite his weakening state, Minato pulled away from her, and tried to shield him with his body.

"What will you do with him?"

With a gentle strength, she reached out again and lifted him from his father's arms. She cooed at the boy, and smiled at him, before turning her gaze back to Minato, "The Great One acknowledges your request, and mourns you loss, so she brought me here, to watch over your little one. I will make sure he grows strong, and learns of his new gifts. And of course, I will love him. How could I not?"

Weakening, Minato slumped, only to be held out by the Great One. Gently, it engulfed him, and he watched, vision fading as it moved the living doll to the ground and Gamabunta vanished. Again he felt its emotions as it moved impossibly fast towards the Kyubi.

ANGER. HATE.

Swiftly, the Great One moved, and grasped the Kyubi in its tentacles. There was a terrible scream from the beast, and blood splashed as the Great One gave a terrible twist.

The blood flowed into the great one as the Kyubi's body began to vanish, no longer having any chakra with which to maintain its shape. Finally, it was gone, and a foul clot of blood was given to the doll.

As his vision faded, the doll turned to him one last time, "Do not worry. He will be loved, and he will be a great Hunter. But tell me, before you die, what is his name?"

Minato tried to answer, and it was only with great effort he gasped out his last breath, "Naruto."

A.N. : And that's a wrap! I know it's not another chapter of "A Changed Hope", but this idea got stuck in there and I had to get it out. If you're unfamiliar with the crossover, go buy Bloodborne. It's awesome. And you will die. A lot. But it's totally worth it.