His undetermined path

The introduction page II

The sealing

In difficult times, will your judgment sway when it comes to one precious person you know, or for the greater good? Could you made that decision?

"Sir! We can't keep this up! He's too powerful!" A man yelled from his position fifty yards from the demon that was quickly destroying everything in his path.

A blonde man wearing a long white coat glared at the creature. There was nothing that could be done about the current events in the eyes of many around him… but he knew just how to get rid of him. "Just continue pushing him out of the village!"

"Minato. Things aren't looking good on my end either. What are you going to do?" His sensei's voice barely came through his ear piece.

He touched the button on his neck. "I can only think on one thing that could work… but it's a huge risk, and the probability of it working isn't even fifty percent yet."

"Minato! Even if it's only a one percent chance it's better than this massacre going on right now. I can stall for time, but I can only give you ten minutes at the very most."

His cerulean eyes looked across the battlefield. His friends were out there being slaughtered, and he was simply standing here, waiting to see what was going to happen. It was only when a large gust of wind came in his direction after one giant red tail lashed out in his direction, when an unknown number of things that could barely be recognized as bodies that were torn apart and charred, that he decided it would have to happen.

"Ok, Sensei. Ten minutes is more than enough." 'Hopefully.'

He closed his eyes and made a single hand sign. He felt the air shift around him as he thought of the place he should be at. When he opened his eyes, he was standing outside of a small town that bordered the Country of Fire.

He ran down the dirt path, made two sharp turns, and stopped in front of a door. He grasped the handle and pushed it open. He glanced inside and spotted his oldest son lying on the couch, fast asleep.

He decided that it was best to leave him be. He didn't want to bother the dirty blonde's slumber. He could see his son's blue eyes moving under his eyelids. His wolf, a present from his wife's friend from back at her old village, was lying next to his boy. His large black body was as close as it could have ever gotten. His head was up and alert, though, his bright orange eyes staring at him. A large patch of red could be seen along both his sides, and his paws, which were hidden at the moment, were red as well.

He put his finger up to his mouth. "Quiet, Ezekiel." He whispered to his pet. Ezekiel just placed his head back on the boy's chest, but his eyes were still open.

He pulled off his headband and placed it in the boy's open hand before walking into his own bedroom where his wife should have been resting. But it didn't surprise him one bit that she was awake, talking to the young girl he had brought here to watch over his wife while she was pregnant.

The two females quickly turned their heads to look at who had just walked in. "Minato Sensei!" Kala, the young girl with brown dusty looking brown hair and gray-blue eyes hopped up from her seat next to the bed. "What's happening at home?" She asked.

He looked at his wife. She was lying in her bed, wearing a loose white t-shirt and baggy green pants. Her long, dark brown hair was tied into a loose braid, her emerald eyes staring at him. Not only hers, but the blue eyes of a blonde wolf lying next to her master.

"Minato. What are you doing here if you haven't help your village? I told you that those people are more important that you constantly checking up on me. We're all fine here." She said sternly.

He didn't break his contact with her. "I'm sorry, Tarsa. I had to come back here." He walked over and looked at the two infants lying in a basinet in the corner. One was a girl with light brown hair and bright green eyes. He could a few faint blonde stands in the dark mess of hair.

Her older twin was curled up next to her. He had such light blonde hair that he could barely see it on his son's head. The youngest boy had his blue eyes as well. He was the only one out of this three children to inherit both his blue eyes and all of the blonde on his head.

His oldest son, Haru, who was barely three, had his blues eyes, but his hair was a shade darker than his own. His daughter, Narta, at this moment, had gotten all her looks from her mother. And although the two were twins, they weren't identical, Narta and Naruto.

He touched his daughter's forehead before picking up his son. He could feel Tarsa tense up behind him. "What are you doing?"

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed. He was thinking about what he was doing.

Tarsa slowly managed to get up on her feet with Kala's assistant. He didn't move. "What are you doing with Naruto?"

Minato looked down at the sleeping boy, then at the squirming baby girl in her little bed. He took a breath. "This'll probably be the last time you ever see either of us again."

She stopped walking over to him. "What?"

"The only way I can rid Konoha of the Kyuubi, is with Naruto." He took a step towards the door. "Sorry it's going to end like this. Guess I was right… I'm not meant to be a father."

"Sensei?" The girl walked over to him. "What are you doing?"

He put his hand on her head. "You'll have to come with me. I have a job for you back at the village." He said. He put his hand on her back and walked her out of the room.

As he expected, a deep growl started coming from Alana, who had jumped off the bed. A kunai whizzed at his head, but he easily moved it to the side. The weapon imbedded itself into the wall instead.

"You're not taking my son to be some sacrificial lamb, Minato Namikaze." He moved closer towards the door, completely ignoring her threats.

"I guess it's good that you can't use that kekkei genkai right now." He muttered as he closed the door behind him.

Haru was sitting up. "Daddy? Why's mommy yelling?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes. The door was flung open behind him.

"Sorry, Haru. I have to take Naruto with me."

"To help the village, right? You've always said that." He said, smiling.

The Namikaze males turned when Tarsa sobbed. "P-please don't t-take him. Minato… please."

He closed his eyes. He couldn't look at her like that. He knew if he didn't leave now, he'd never be able to. "Haru." He said. "Will you take care of your mom and little sister?"

He nodded, still not sure what was going on.

"I'm sorry." He muttered. He grabbed Kala's arm and lightly pulled her out of the house. He shut the door. He pulled the girl closer to him and held onto his son while closing his eyes. The last thing he heard were the mournful sounds Tarsa's screams and cries.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in Konoha. He glanced down at his son to see bright blue eyes staring into his dull ones. "Hey there, little guy." He muttered. Naruto smiled and let out a small giggle, which made him smile.

He turned to Kala. "Kala, you've done a lot for me and Tarsa in the past two months. But now I'm going to give you an order as the Hokage."

She nodded. "I understand, sir."

"Good. What I'm about to do with Naruto is dangerous, and if he manages to live, then I want you to watch over him as a doctor, ok?" She nodded. "Also, I don't want you contacting Tarsa about what's going to happen tonight. If Naruto lives, then write to her and tell her that he died. She can't know about him, ever. Even if he's twelve years old and begging to know about his family, you can't tell. Nobody is to know about his family. Jiraiya and Tsunade know about Tarsa, but I told them that she died this morning due to problems during the birth. They don't know about Narta and Haru. Keep it that way."

Kala nodded once again, and said slowly… "You've had this planned out. For how long?" She asked.

He sighed. "A while. But that's not important now." He looked up when a loud crash sounded to his right. "It's time to start." He muttered. He pushed the button on his hear piece. "Sensei, I'm back."

"Three minutes, Minato!"

"Right." He replied.

He turned to Kala. "Alright listen, I want you to find somewhere safe to hide until all the danger has passed." He patter her head and ran off towards the sound of destruction.

He spotted the retired Third Hokage helping a hurt child that had been trying to get back towards his parents. He had a large gash across the bridge of his nose and it was bleeding profusely.

"Minato! Things are getting worse by the minute. What do you plan on doing?" He asked.

He stopped. He hadn't told the old man about Naruto. "This boy is going to save the village, Sarutobi Sensei, not me."

"Stop talking nonsense, boy-"

"I'm serious. I'm going to seal the demon within this boy. He was born this morning and it's the best thing I can think of."

"You're going to summon the Shinigami, aren't you?" The elder man asked.

"It can't be helped. This is my last resort. If this fails, we're doomed anyways. This boy, Naruto Uzumaki, will be known as the hero of this village. Please remember that." He bowed his head and continued to run to the battle scene.

When he got close enough, he summoned the great Gamabunta. As he sat atop the large toad's head, he could hear cheering from all around. "The simple minded fools… Can't they see that it's not over yet?" Gama said in his low voice.

"Seeing us brings hose to them, Gama. That's what's important in the end."

"Not that important when they're dead."

"Gama!"

"Heh, I'm only joking. Is that the child you spoke of?"

"Yeah. He's my son. Make sure to be kind to him if you should eve happen to meet, ok?" Minato looked down the toad's face. "That injury not going away? "He asked. A large gash could be seen running down the rough red skin of the Toad Lord.

"No. It'll heal over time, but demon chakra slows the healing process immensely. It's no surprise that it didn't heal after I returned home."

Kyuubi's head lifted and turned towards the toad. He growled. "Back for more, you foolish old creature?"

"Quiet, you filthy fox." Gama returned.

Kyuubi took a swipe at him with one of his tails, but Gama jumped over it like it was a jump rope. "What do you humans think you can do, huh?! You can't run because I'll hunt you down one by one. You surely can't possibly hope to beat me, the lord of all demons!"

As the Kyuubi threw his head up and laughed, Minato started making hand signs while still holding his son. He had to do it slowly so he didn't mess up. Holding a child and trying to form signs wasn't as easy as he had hoped. Finally he finished and the God of Death appeared next to him.

The… creature was the only term Minato could think of, loomed over him. "Sealing a demon, eh? That'll cost you, Minato Namikaze… your life."

"I know this already."

"Oh, well good. I won't have to explain it to you. But now that you've summoned me, you'll be leaving with me. Are we on agreeing terms here, mortal?" Minato simply nodded. "Very we-"

"You?! What do you think you're doing here, Death? I can't be directly killed by you by having my soul and spirit taken out. That was the agreement." The kitsune growled.

Death chuckled. "I forgot that you pitiful demons could see me, unlike mortals who haven't summoned me." Kyuubi growled and took a step forward. "Don't get so excited, demon. You won't be dying on this very dark night. But your time is soon drawing to an end."

Minato made one more sign and suddenly everything lit up around him. He felt his own soul separate from his body. The soul version of himself was identical in features, but it was like staring at the sun. The soul radiated so much light that the surrounding ninja had to shield their eyes and couldn't see what was happening.

'Is this really my soul?!' He thought as he held Naruto up to his chest. The light being created something like glowing ropes and lassoed them around the Kyuubi's neck. He let out a terrible roar and struggled to get free, but it was too late for him now. He was caught.

The soul tugged on the ropes and slowly, the soul and spirit of the Kyuubi began to separate from his large body. With one more earth-shaking roar, he was fully separated. His soul was a dark red and it moved as if it were the surface of the sun. That's when Minato realized that not only were the soul and spirit being pulled into his son, but his chakra was as well.

The bright soul slowly walked through the child in Minato's arms and back into its own body. He felt a chill run down his spine. He had to do it now.

He bit his thumb as the soul continued to return to his body, pulling the demon's spirit, soul, and chakra along with it. He was glad his son was only wearing a diaper. He took it off and made a large number of seal marking on his son's body. There was only one place that had no markings, and that was on Naruto's navel area. Naruto started to cry once the Kyuubi started to enter his body.

Minato started to feel sick. He had the case of the chills bad, but he held on tight to Naruto. After what seemed like an eternity, the only remaining soul of Kyuubi was part of a tail. Minato lunged his left hand into the liquid like version of the chakra. He pulled his hand out of the burning sensation right as the tail disappeared into his boy.

Without hesitating he began to finish the full body seal on his son. "I'm not only going to seal you with my blood and my son, but with your own power as well, Kyuubi." He muttered as he continued to write on his son's stomach.

With a bloody spiral shape and a surge of his own chakra, he finished the full body seal on his son. All the light was gone from the souls, but the God of Death still hovered near Minato.

Naruto continued to cry, but he slowed down to a sob and looked up at his father. His violent red eyes stared up into his father's sad blue orbs. Three red, glowing lines appeared on each cheek, then faded into thin, black lines. His eyes faded back to blue and all the sealed crawled over his skin and massed within the seal on his navel. It took the longest to fade away.

"There now. That wasn't so hard-" He felt a tug as his chest, causing him to collapse to his knees. His breathing became ragged and heavy. "Looks like this is goodbye, Naruto." He whispered to his boy. "I love you." He muttered.

He fell over onto his side, Naruto still within his grasp. He just continued to watch his son's blue eyes look up at him. But for a moment, his large infant eyes moved over to the figure hovering above the dying Hokage.

Naruto started to wail again when Death reached down and pulled Minato's soul and spirit from his body. The child could only wail louder when he felt the change in his father.

"Quit your crying, boy. You'll be with him soon enough now that that particular demon is a part of you." He held Minato's gray soul within his grasp. "Fate will bring the two of you together in about thirteen years. I'll be waiting…' His voice faded as his disappeared from the view of the infant. And as if he knew what the god had said, his tears slowed and he sobbed into his father's chest.

Movement could be seen from all around as cheers were heard echoing through the trees. A thin figure ran forward. "Sensei!" He stopped when Jiraiya appeared before him, holding his arm out.

"He's not coming back, Kakashi."

"No! Sensei! You can't leave! You can't be gone!"

Jiraiya grabbed the boy's shoulders. "Enough, Kakashi."

The boy stopped struggling. His friends… the team he had been placed on, squad seven, was gone. He was alone.

A few others appeared. They knew that their Hokage was dead. The one's cheering in the forest would soon mourn as well. Not only for their lost Hokage, but for the many leaves that fell in the attack.

More ninjas appeared as the work slowly spread around through the trees. The cheers fell silent. They were now moving forward to pay their respects to their fallen Hokage.

Crying filled the area, but it was that of a child's. Many looked around, but only two walked forward towards Minato. The man who had taught him many of the thing he knew bent down and slowly pulled the child out of his student's cold hands.

He held the boy and stared down at him as many started to whisper.

"What's that?"

"Where did Lord Minato get that? I didn't see that child before!"

"Maybe that's the Kyuubi in human form."

"Kill it. Kill it right now."

"Enough!" Sarutobi yelled. "This boy was brought by your late Hokage. He sealed the demon within the infant so that you all would be safe. This boy is the reason your alive."

"Seal? Then eventually it'll get out. I still say it should be killed. We can't afford any mistakes."

"Silence!" The old man roared. "Naruto Uzumaki gave you all life. Don't think of such horrid things when Minato gave his life to seal the demon into the boy. Nobody will lay a finger on this child. He is to be unharmed."

"But sir-"

"Quiet. I'm amking a law right here and now. None of you are to speak of the events that unfolded here tonight. Nobody else is to know about what is sealed within this child, Naruto. If you speak of it I will sentence those who do very harshly."

"Does that mean you're taking up your post as Hokage again?" Jiraiya asked as he lightly bounced the laughing baby in his arms.

The old man gave a small smile to his student. "I know you, Jiraiya. You won't take the position. I'll make sure that this place is restored before I step down."

"I see. What about Naruto?" He asked. "I can't take care of a child. You're too old. Who's left?"

The old man sighed. "That matter will have to be dealt with later. You just keep him safe until this mess is cleaned up." He turned to the large crowd. "Everyone! Never forget this night and what it stand for…and never forget the fallen leaves of Konoha!"

This story should be coming out faster than this!!! It makes me mad that I've neglected it for so long. I reposted the first chapter although there weren't any real noticable changes. I'm going to work more on this. I have most of the plop laid out (Section by section right now) so I'll be putting more chapters of this out at a time that with The only move is forward. That seems right, doesn't it? the first story should be done before the second, right. lol.

Well, that's basically all I have to say. I try to avoid putting personal things up here because then this would be way too long , thats what my livejournal is for. Oh yeah... If you guys actually read my author notes, then if you review, say that you have read this(just once though) I'm just curious is all as to how many people really read these. I may make a simailar note in Tomif.

Blackblaze