Chapter 1

Dealing With the Council

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Never will.

Minato looked around, awed, in Naruto's mindscape. There was only a bluish-white sort of sky surrounding everything, and no 'ground' to speak of. Vague, blurry impressions of his and Kushina's face flitted across the sky, and Naruto's feelings and emotions washed over him. So this was what a newborn's mind was like. He glanced once up at the floating orb that would contained the majority of his chakra. He could access it, but the orb only let him draw out amounts that would not harm Naruto's body. That was just fine for Minato, as it meant that his seals worked.

It seemed that all normal laws of physics were defied in a baby's mindscape. While you could stand on air like it was solid, you could also jet around like you controlled the wind. Minato spent some time getting used to the area before reminding himself about Naruto.

He casually walked or floated around, hunting for the small boy that would be here somewhere. Last he had seen, Naruto was sleeping in the Sandaime's arms. That meant that Naruto would be in his mindscape, as he was not awake.

Ah ha. There. A small, chubby, naked baby that had blonde fuzz and bright blue eyes that mirrored Minato's own. He smiled softly and hummed as he picked his son up. Naruto.

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The Sandaime glanced down at Naruto. The boy giggled and snuggled more deeply into the blanket. He had never seen such a cheerful baby.

Too bad the council will probably want to kill him.

He gathered Naruto in his arms and headed to the council chambers. He had a lot of explaining to do to the council. If he played his cards correctly, Naruto would live a better life than most jinchuriki. And if the council refused to let Naruto have a decent life, Sarutobi would force them. Minato's death had left a gaping hole and a numbness that would never really recede, and he owed it to Minato to take care of his son. Sarutobi entered the room and settled in his chair at the head of the table, ignoring the curious glances at the child in his arms. As soon as the meeting started, he was hit with a barrage of questions and accusations from the civilian representatives.

"What happened-"

"Is the Kyuubi gon-"

"The number of casualties-"

"Enough!" The Sandaime slammed his hands down on the table. "If you now can stop speaking over each other like children, I will explain." The shinobi part of the council sat patiently in their seats, waiting for an explanation, while the civilian portion shifted uncomfortably. No one spoke. Sarutobi settled back down in his chair. "Good."

He met each and every one of the council member's eyes. "Minato gave up his soul and was forced to summon the Shinigami to seal the Kyuubi. He sacrificed his life for the village." The council was shocked. Calling up the Shinigami was a feat that required much more than just a soul. Not anyone could do it. Only those with the mental strength and willpower required could summon it, and the user's soul was sent straight to the Shinigami's stomach. They all went silent in respect for the Yondaime.

Nara Shikaku posed the dreaded question. "What did Yondaime Hokage-sama seal it into?"

Sarutobi faced the man. "Into this newborn child. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and his mother died giving birth." He held up the baby for the council to see.

Homura and Koharu stood. "What do you mean, Yondaime-sama sealed the Kyuubi into this boy?"

Sarutobi sighed. He knew it. Naruto would most definitely be prejudiced against by most of the village. He mentally apologized to Minato. He could not tell anyone about Naruto's heritage, and it would be far too dangerous if he did. "Minato summoned the Shinigami and sealed the Kyuubi away in this boy's stomach. This boy is not the Kyuubi, merely its jailor."

The council members eyed Naruto with a new wariness.

Aburame Shibi spoke first. "Perhaps it would be best to put the boy under the guard of a powerful shinobi, just in case the Kyuubi takes control."

Sarutobi nodded. It seemed that some council members saw sense. "Yes, that would be a good idea."

Danzo objected. "No, the boy should be raised to protect Konoha. He has the Kyuubi, he will grow up to be a powerful shinobi." He was immediately the target of the Sandaime's ire.

"He will not be turned into a tool to be used! Minato wanted him seen as a hero!"

Koharu interrupted. "Have a trusted nurse take care of him in the hospital until he is old enough, then put him into the orphanage under ANBU guard."

Sarutobi eyed him. "That is a good plan."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke. "He should be killed."

Killer intent focused on the clan head, and suddenly, Fugaku became much more wary of the Sandaime. Fugaku's fists clenched and his knuckles turned white under the pressure, but he refused to show any signs of weakness. Suddenly, the killer intent faltered when a tendril of yellow chakra extended from the boy.

Wasn't the Kyuubi's chakra red?

The chakra felt benign, with no trace of killing intent, and, initially, it was comforting. Caring. It somehow reminded the Sandaime of Minato, when the blonde man had looked out upon the village. And then, the room became ice cold. The chakra extended out in sharps spikes, and wound around Fugaku with such speed that no one could react.

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Minato was pissed. How dare he. That scum. He was half tempted to kill the bastard, but if he did that, then Naruto would be regarded as a monster. He couldn't really kill the man anyway, as forcing out more chakra would hurt Naruto. Maybe just a little threatening would do…

Fugaku struggled free from the tendrils, and right before his eyes, the yellow chakra molded itself into a form that had nine tails swaying behind it. No one knew exactly what it was.

"How dare you, mortal." Minato hissed. Internally, he was laughing his head off. Making the council piss their pants was fun, and the expression on Fugaku's face was one that he had never seen while he still had a human body. "How dare you try to hurt the child. Not even us demons hurt babies of our own kind."

The astonishment on the council's faces was priceless. The Sandaime's pipe hung limply out of his mouth, his jaw slack in shock.

One of the civilian representatives made the mistake of speaking. "But..how…wasn't the child taken over-"

"ENOUGH!" Minato roared, using his construct as the speaker. "How dare you think that this child could do anything on the scale of the nine great demons?! Idiot! How stupid can you humans get?"

Said idiot cowered in his seat.

The Sandaime steepled his fingers and stared straight at the chakra mass, seemingly calm. Internally, he was a mass of tangled thoughts. Why hadn't the Kyuubi killed them yet? Why hadn't it killed it's container? Why had it bothered appearing to them?

"Kyuubi-sama," Sarutobi began, "If I may ask, why haven't you killed us yet?"

The yellow chakra manifestation laughed harshly. "I cannot. The blonde man's seal prevents me from doing anything to hurt the baby. Drawing on more chakra to kill you would harm my container." It turned to eye the rest of the council members. "I should have killed you scum for even suggesting to murder an innocent babe, of your species." Minato prided himself on his acting, but in this case, part of the anger was real. They suggested to kill the very child, his son, he had asked to consider a hero. He had suspected that they would not pay much attention to his last wish, but this was ridiculous! The council paled and drops of sweat slid down their foreheads from the increased killing intent.

"Well then, why haven't you hurt your container?"

The chakra mass paced back and forth in exasperation. "Do you really think that the man who sealed me was stupid enough to forget that?" Sarutobi looked suitably ashamed.

Hyuuga Hiashi put forth a question. "Why is your chakra yellow, Kyuubi-sama? It was red before."

Minato pretended to ignore the man for a little, preening the chakra-contructed tails. While the man sat patiently in his seat, Minato answered. "Uchiha Madara controlled me." While not technically true, it was as close to the truth as the council would get.

"What?!"

"Uchiha Madara controlled me. I will not say this again." Minato repeated. "Now, if you'll excuse me…." He turned tail and re-entered Naruto's mindscape.

All of the council, one by one, turned to face the Sandaime, seeking answers. The Sandaime sighed. "We must assume it spoke the truth. All of the old writings say that demons always mean what they say, even if they twisted their words to fool others. Naruto will live a normal life, and this incident is an SS-ranked secret punishable by death. I no longer think telling who the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi is to the general population a good idea. If anyone speaks of Naruto being a jinchuriki, they will be excecuted. Only the jounin and above ranks will be informed of this fact. Naruto will stay at the nursery at the hospital until he is ten. Then, he will have an apartment of his own." The Sandaime stared into each of the council's eyes, as if probing their minds and deepest secrets. "There will be no objections." His voice was ice cold, filled with menace. This was not the peaceful, granfatherly Sarutobi. This was the leader of a warring nation. "This meeting is adjourned."

The council members filed out the door, whispering and muttering while Sarutobi leaned back in his seat and sighed. Minato, what would you have done?

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Two weeks later found Naruto safely in the protection of a trusted nurse and a team of ANBU. Though no one ever spoke of Naruto being a jinchuriki, rumors made the rounds about a blonde-haired boy that wasn't a Yamanaka being the container of a demon. None of the rumors were ever proved, however. Overall, Sarutobi was pleased with the result. It could have been much worse, he mused, pulling a sheet from the "in" pile on his desk.

As he stamped another paper and added it to the growing "out" pile, he wondered about Naruto. The boy showed no signs of possesion whatsoever, not even faint whiskermarks or slightly pointed fingernails. Nothing. It was so strange.

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Minato smiled as he played with Naruto in the mindscape. Slowly, his baby boy was developing a sense of self and the rules of nature, evidenced by the formation of a fuzzy "floor" that resembled in feel and texture the blanket lining Naruto's crib. Minato couldn't float in the mindscape anymore, but he could stil step on air and jump to incredible heights. His face became more defined in the sky, while Kushina's faded, like a distant memory. Minato had created soft colorful blocks to play with in the mindscape, and Naruto loved them. The kid could play and toss them around in the mindscape for hours and hours. Of course, sometimes the nurse came to feed him, and then the Naruto in the mindscape left. But Minato could see everthing his son did, and talk with him through thoughts, so everthing was fine.

He murmured, "I'm your daddy, Naruto."

Naruto only looked up at him, blinked with wide blue eyes, and sneezed.

Minato laughed, long and hard.

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Over the next year, Naruto grew and learned. Naruto was a bright baby boy, picking up on crawling very quickly and easily, with Minato whispering encouragement in his son's mind. The mindscape grew to resemble a sort of three room apartment, with bouncy matress for flooring and toys and stuffed animals all over. In one of the rooms, large picture of Minato dominated a wall, showing the amount of influence he had over Naruto. That room, Minato found, showed who Naruto really thought of as family. Even if the baby didn't fully understand the concept, Naruto knew that his daddy was "special". A small, blurred picture of Kushina was pasted in a small corner.

Minato had his own room, as he shared the mindscape, which held pictures of Naruto and Kushina. It was colored a light blue, his favorite color. A list of rules imposed on him by Kami lay on a table that resembled the desk in the Hokage tower. It meant that Minato regarded it as important, but also as bothersome paperwork. The desk was squished in a small corner of a room, with pictures of Naruto and baby items dominating the area. A good portion was taken up by shinobi items, especially his Hiraishin kunai, and fuinjutsu scrolls. Neatly arranged with the posters of Naruto and Kushina were large portraits of Jiraiya, Kakashi, Rin, Obito, and the Sandaime. Framed, smaller photos held people Minato considered friends. Four by six inch, neatly stacked photos showed the people Minato liked but never considered friends. A tiny, locked closet held memories that Minato would rather forget. Ninjato dripping with gore hung there, as well as Hiraishin kunai that were covered with Rock nin's blood. A memory of the Kyuubi's chakra hung in the room, and pictures of the devastation wreaked on Konoha papered the walls. Minato sometimes wished to forget them, to pretend the events didn't happen, that the closet didn't exist. But he couldn't do that. Running from his fears would only cause the closet to expand, to consume his mind. And he would not allow that to happen. He had Naruto to take care of.

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A sixteen month old Naruto clapped his hands and screamed, "Da-da!" at the top of his lungs. Minato winced at the noise and shushed Naruto. Even if they were in Naruto's mindscape, it was loud. He had started speaking early at thirteen months instead of the usual fourteen to twenty months of age, probably because Minato talked to him practically twenty-four seven. How he regretted teaching the boy how to say the word, daddy. Naruto had been yelling it at the top of his lungs ittermittently, stopping after Minato shushed him, and saying it again when Naruto had forgotten about the scolding.

His mindscape had a blue and white sky, with a large, open field as ground. A three room cottage with a small porch was where Minato and Naruto usually played in the mindscape. The laws of physics were no longer screwed, and everything was done normally, partially a result of the new exposure to the outside world, and partly because of Minato's influence.

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Naruto's POV, 3 years old.

The nurse entered the boy's room, humming cheerfully as she went. Her name was Tameshi Akiko, and she was a trusted medic nin assigned to the task of watching Naruto by the Sandaime. At first, she resented having to help the brat, seeing as he contained the Kyuubi no Yoko, but after awhile, her views changed. She had been told of both of the S class secrets associated with Uzumaki Naruto, so at first, she disliked him. After awhile, the boy's cheerful attitude became infectuous. He was such a cheerful, kind little boy, that it was impossible to hate him once you got to know him.

"Hey there, Naruto-kun!"

"Ai-ko-niichan!" Naruto yelled. He blinked at "Ai-ko." Daddy was telling him that nice people like her were called "kind". Whatever that meant. However much he loved his Daddy, he sometimes said words he didn't understand. It was just like jiji.

"Time for your food. Here, open up." It was carrots. Mashed carrots, with soft macaroni and cheese.

"I wanna bym-myself!" He frowned at Daddy groaning inside his head. Why did it matter if he made a little mess while eating?

Akiko chuckled. "Alright, but first, let me feed you the carrots, m-kay?" She pushed a spoon laden with food forwards.

Naruto pouted, with bright blue eyes threatening to tear up and his lower lip pushed up adorably. "By-my-self!"

Stupid two year olds in their terrible two's stage with an adorable kicked puppy look. "Fine, fine. But when I come back, it'd better be all gone!"

Naruto nodded vigorously.

She smiled, shook her head, and walked out the door. As soon as she was gone, Minato manifested himself.

"Naruto!"

"Aww, daddy, pleeeaaasee? Kiba says he can do it!" Naruto adopted his kicked puppy look for the second time that day. Minato was immune, and he was frankly quite worried about the effects of Naruto's new friends on his son. He had met the Inuzaka at the park one day at an outing. It had not been fun for Minato. Naruto and his nurse may have not minded dog slobber from Tsume's large nin-dog on Naruto's face, but Minato sure did.

"If you make a mess, no Ooki." Ooki was Naruto's pet name for a certain stuffed wolf that the Sandaime had gotten Naruto for a present after he saw that the boy did not like the stuffed fox he had gotten for his birthday at all. Minato could take the wolf and hide it until Naruto was suitably chatised.

"Fine, daddy." He grumbled. Naruto pouted as he tried to properly fit the small spoon in his hand. Minato reached down with his chakra construct and gently wrapped Naruto's fingers around it. Naruto glared up at him, but ate anyways. Minato smiled.

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Naruto, 5 years old.

Sarutobi strode cheerfully to Naruto's room. The boy was allowed full run of a floor in the hospital, the same floor as his room was in.

"Hello, Naruto."

"Jiji!!!" Naruto flung himself at the man, and hugged him tight, somehow still managing to cling to Ooki (he had just gotten it back last night from Minato after a prank).

"What's this I hear about you splashing the doctors with water?" The Sandaime adopted a mock angry stance, staring down Naruto.

"Aww, jiji, it was just a prank." He did the Puppy-Eyes no jutsu on the hapless Sandaime. While Minato had been exposed to it enough times to be immune to the look, the Sandaime was not.

"Fine, Naruto." The Sandaime sighed, ruffling Naruto's sunshine-yellow hair. That look should be considered an A-rank kinjutsu.

He had come to visit today, because he needed to check the seal on Naruto's stomach. That, and why couldn't he visit his favorite grandson?

"Naruto, I'll let you have a piece of dango if you lift your shirt for me."

"To check the seal gain'?" He lifted up his shirt. Naruto recalled what his daddy had said about seals. They were cool, could do a lot of cool things, and were really, really hard to learn. Ninja could learn about them.

Daddy had been a ninja, and ninja sometimes had to do bad stuff, but Daddy had also protected his precious things, like Konoha and his friends. Daddy was really strong and a biju (whatever that was) and he had a ton of chakra. Naruto wanted to protect Ai-ko niichan and jiji and his friends from the park and his daddy, and he loved Konoha, so he wanted to become a ninja too! Daddy was happy, but he was sad too. Maybe cause' ninja had to do bad things?

"Hey, jiji…" Naruto trailed off thoughtfully. The Sandaime 'Hm'ed in aknowlegement and straightened up from checking the seal. Everything was fine.

"Naruto, are you sure?" Minato thought to Naruto.He had butted in because he didn't want his son making a decision he would regret, and he could hear his son's thoughts. A ninja's life was hard.

"Yes, I'm sure, daddy! I wanna protect you, and jiji, and Akiko and my friends at the park and the nice people in Konoha! Just like you!"

Minato only smiled, and told his son that it was alright then.

"…can I become a ninja?"

The Sandaime was surprised. How did the boy know about ninja? "Why, Naruto?"

Naruto nearly chirped that 'Daddy told me it was okay to be one!', but Minato quickly cut off that line of thought and told him that it was really, really not a good idea to say that.

Naruto pouted. "Ninja protect people. I wanna to protect my friends."

"That's it?" Asked the Sandaime, perturbed. Most five year-olds said, "I wanna learn cool jutsu!" or something similar, but Naruto had given the reply of a mature teenager.

"Well then, Naruto, are you sure?"

"YES!" Naruto yelled. He'd had enough of that from Dad.

"Alright then, I'll enroll you in the Ninja Academy when you're old enough." Sarutobi smiled as he ruffled the yellow spikes of hair. Naruto truly was his father's son.

Naruto himself broke into a wide grin eerily remniscent of his father.

Author's Notes:

Normally I update faster than this, but I've been kinda busy lately…What do you think about the council scene? Realistic?

I sped through Naruto's first few years because I needed to move the story along. I promise, the next chapter will have some sort of ninja action going on.

What do you guys think about the story in general? Interesting?

Review!