Chapter 4
Now or Never
The Kyubi reared its head back and roared in all its anger and rage, allowing its aura of hatred and malice to descend upon the surrounding area like a thick blanket. The strongest of the nine continued to struggle against the loosening chakra chains, tails flailing and body bucking as it tried to throw off its restraints.
At the other side of the clearing the last two members of Team Seven stared the great behemoth down, minds kicking into high gear as they both tried to formulate a plan. Finally Naruto sighed, startling his pink haired teammate.
"There's only one way I can think off that's going to work." He said at last, looking at his childhood crush with a sad smile.
"That's why you usually leave me to do all the thinking idiot." There was no malice or annoyance in her voice as she spoke, only a sorrow filled smile.
He caught her eyes and held them, piercing blue piercing into emerald green. "Can you think of a better way?"
How much she wanted to tell him that she did have another way, another plan which didn't require the huge burden, the huge sacrifice he was already about to take on his shoulders. Naruto had already burdened himself with so much, just hours after his birth. If Sakura could she would be the one to take this burden on her shoulders, but she didn't have the chakra capacity to do it.
"There has to be another way," she replied stubbornly, hugging her arms around her sides. "There has too."
He smiled at her, but a sudden roar of anger rolled over them, forcing them to look up at their enemy. The ancient Nine Tailed Demon Fox was thrashing even harder against the chains holding it down. Naruto could see the anchor like objects imbedded in the ground begin to be pulled free. It was only a matter of time.
"You're…" Naruto and Sakura both turned to the origin of the voice to see the Yondaime Hokage, watching the younger blonde with wide eyes. There was no mistaking it. His blonde hair was a little more vibrant, but that and his eyes were undoubtedly Namikaze, and his face, those cheeks reminded him so much of Kushina that it was surreal. "You're really him aren't you? You're really my son."
Naruto blinked at his father's direction, before bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. Minato nearly gawked. It was so Kushina like. So much so that his wife, looking at him from her kneeling position, had her mouth slightly opened in a stunned silence, "Um, hi mom, hi dad."
The Kyubi had released itself from the chains around its head and neck and with a snarl darted forward, jaws open.
Naruto watched as the jaws came ever closer, and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind and soul to the surrounding natural chakra, not the chakra of a single being, but the chakra which permeated the air, the great forests, the mountains, everything. With a deep breath he jumped high into the air with a chakra propelled leap.
Red pigment seemed to bleed into his eyelids, and when he opened his eyes his once blue eyes were replaced by pulsing golden orbs with bar like pupils. Sage mode fully activated he looked down upon the head of the Kyubi, nearly twenty meters below, baleful crimson eyes glaring up at him. Naruto glared right back, and assembled a large amount of Sage chakra into his right palm.
The swirling ball of blue energy came into existence, hovering above his palm. Slowly but surely it began to grow and pulse, becoming three then four times it original size. He straightened his body out then, darting down towards his opponent's huge head. He waited until he was within a few meters of his target, and then thrust out his palm.
"Senpō: Ōdama Rasengan (Sage Art: Great Ball Rasengan)!"
"Ōdama Rasengan (Great Ball Rasengan)!"
Surprised Naruto looked to his right to see his father barely a couple of meters. The Yondaime's own Rasengan, half the size as his own but still big seemed to meld together with Naruto's more powerful variant, creating a Rasengan even greater than the original. Father and son looked into each other's blue orbs, and smiled.
The Rasengan, now the size of the giant fox demon's head slammed right on the top of its skull, sending it slamming into the earth with a pained scream. The pure force behind the attack caused the ground below the fox's huge head to crater. Naruto and Minato used the momentum to jump back, performing backward somersaults and landing in a pair of crouches before the creature.
He turned to Sakura, "That won't keep it down for long."
"What are we going to do then?" Kushina asked, groggily getting to her feet.
"There's only one thing we can do." Minato replied, taking a step forward towards the monstrous Fox, still gazed by their combined strike. "I'll-"
"Use the Shiki Fūjin to seal the Kyubi inside both yourself and your newly born son right?" Minato looked at Naruto stunned, seeing his melancholy smile. He looked to Sakura who didn't seem all that surprised, and then too Kushina who looked absolutely shocked by what she had heard.
"Why," she asked, voice on the verge of breaking, "Why would you do that? If I had used my power to kill the Kyubi along with myself then Naruto would still have you!"
Minato looked at her with an almost overwhelming mixture of guilt and pain in his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by Naruto, who spoke for him. "It's because of many things. Mainly though, it was because he wanted you to be able to meet me several years from now. My dad was willing to give his life away so that you could meet me, talk to me, and see me as a grown up."
The red head looked up at the grown up version of her son, only to see him smile widely. "And you know what. I was glad he did, because I didn't just get the chance to meet my father again, I got the chance to meet my mom, to talk to her, to fight alongside her in controlling the Kyubi. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, to meet you face to face mom."
"Naruto…" The emotions were too great for her to speak further.
"And you know what, I think I wanted more." She looked up at him, "That's one of the main reasons why we're here. Sasuke wanted to kill Madara before he could begin his reign of fear and murder, and protect his family. Sakura wanted to back us up and reduce the casualties of the Kyubi attack as much as possible, and me," he looked at both his mother and father with a forlorn smile. "I wanted to save both you and dad, as well as help save Konoha from this disaster. Please, let us finish the job."
He turned around to face the Kyubi, and to not allow his parents to see the solitary tear trailing down his cheek. His dad was as cool as his memory, and his mom was so beautiful. It may not be for him, but he wanted to protect these two people. "Please let us complete our mission. Sakura, back me up!"
Sakura smiled, and nodded. "You have to ask?"
"Oh," Naruto whispered, almost as an afterthought. "Just one last thing, when we become Genin again can we be in the same team? I would like that more than anything."
Sakura's smile grew ever so slightly, "I hope I won't be as violent as I remember."
"Probably won't. I doubt I'd be seeking so much attention next time around." Naruto smiled as he began making hand seals. The signs came with practise, Snake, boar, ram, rabbit, dog, rat, bird, horse, snake and finishing with a clap of the hands.
He was in his mindscape again, looking up at the huge ball of raw chakra, once belonging to the Kyubi no Yoko, now belonging to him. Surrounding him and this monumental ball of white energy were the tall forms of four ancient Tori gates of faded crimson, standing like ever watchful sentinels, unmoving guardians of this power. Smiling Naruto raised his hand to this ball, calling upon its power for the last time.
"Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)!"
The Shinigami, the death god himself slowly appeared behind him. Surrounding by six orbs or light purple flame. The Shinigami was as terrifying as he had imagined. A demonic entity dressed in a white robe, his hair white and spike, skin a dark purple, eyes black with yellow sclera and pupils an all consuming black. A dagger was visible between his jagged teeth, and prayer beads tied around his right arm and hand.
Naruto could hear his laughter, dark and ominous as it looked upon the Kyubi. So this is what my dad saw before he died, this was what Jiji saw before he died.
"No,"
Naruto looked down to see his father staring up at him, "Why did it have to be you? This was my burden to take; mine and mine alone."
Naruto couldn't help but smile, "You think I would let you make this mistake twice. This time it will be me who becomes the sacrifice to seal away this monster. That way I will still be the Kyubi's host, but I will have the advantage in having you two beside me to lead me onwards and become what you wanted me to be. You don't know how much I needed you two, how the village needed you two. The old man was good, but he was also getting old."
Minato knew it was already too late to stop his son from doing what he was about to do. He had already completed the seals, summoned the Shinigami. He cursed himself for not being fast enough to stop this young man from taking his place. "Don't look so depressed dad. You're not really losing me, I'm right over there, and as for mom Sakura did her job well. If you get her to a hospital within a couple of hours then she'll survive."
"You don't get it do you?" Minato cried out, grabbing his son's arms and giving him a shake. His sudden movement stunned Naruto. "I did it because you're my son. I believed heart and soul that you would be the one to lead the world to a time of peace."
He smiled sadly, "Then wouldn't it be better if you and mom were there beside me while I did it?"
As he spoke the Shinigami outstretched his arm, imbedding himself into Naruto's back and through his stomach, shredding all clothing around that space. A single seal appeared, covering his usual five elements seal which kept the Kyubi in place. Naruto looked down, and besides the situation smiled when the new seal didn't subvert the old. His precautions had worked pretty well.
He turned to Minato, "Well what are you waiting for? Make the necessary seals!"
Minato seemed torn for a moment, before nodding his head and spinning towards his newborn son, already propped on a large cushion and crib. Both he and Sakura immediately began drawing the seals needed for this manoeuvre.
The hand and arm of the Shinigami appeared from his stomach, a necklace of holy beads tied around his clawed hand, and flew across the field, slamming into the Kyubi's upper right foreleg and imbedding itself in place.
Naruto looked up at the monster, and allowed a grim smile to cross his face, "Seal."
It seemed like the Nine Tailed Demon Fox's very essence, his very soul, had been ripped from his being. A barely coherent mass of energy taking the shape of its owner rose from its skin and fur. Before becoming multiple tendrils of fiery chakra, soaring across the field and imbedding itself in Naruto's gut. The Shinigami reached up with his free hand, taking the knife it held in its teeth, and brought it down between
The Demon Fox didn't have any time to react before the Shinigami did his work, taking half of his power away and sealing it inside himself, just like the original contract dictated. Naruto smiled, before coughing up blood. "Alright, that's one… problem down… one to go!"
Minato and Sakura looked up and nodded as they finished the final few seals around the crib. His baby self possessing a four elements seal on his stomach, just like his own. "It's done."
"Then that's all you need to be here for." Naruto replied, "Get my mom to the hospital as fast as you can. I and Sakura will deal with him while you go. Don't worry the Sandaime will be here shortly."
Minato shook his head, followed by Kushina. "He… no your our son, we won't leave either of you alone. If we're going then we're going together."
Naruto looked at him for a moment, shocked, before a smile curved up his lips and he nodded. "Alright then, back us up."
As he spoke Sakura moved, positioning herself between the baby and the Kyubi. Naruto stood where he was, "Alright, let's finish this!"
The first place he had gone too was the small cabin, hidden in the forests. There he saw the dead bodies of his beloved wife and the midwife assigned to help in Kushina's birth, as well as a man he did not know. The Yondaime, his wife and newborn child were missing. Sarutobi had knelt by Biwako's side, shed tears for her, and then rose and steeled himself.
There would be time to grieve later, for now he needed to find Minato. He needed to find out what was going on, and how he could assist his successor in subduing the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. He took to the trees, not waiting for his two Jonin bodyguards to catch up, following the trail of monstrous chakra to its source. The Kyubi would be there, as would Minato, he was sure of it.
Sarutobi Hiruzen exploded from the treeline, landing at the edge of the forest. His wizened old eyes locked onto the weakened form of the Kyubi no Yoko, covered in loosened chakra chains and dazed from what must have been a powerful attack.
He broke out in a run, heading right towards the small group of figures standing before the massive beast. The aging Hokage felt a sudden spark of chakra and skidded to a halt, something was electrifying the air. A powerful barrier had been erected between him and those fighting. He took a step forward, and reached out with his hand. An orange barrier appeared before him, rippling like a stone dropped into a pond of still water.
"Sandaime-sama!" His two Jonin bodyguards dropped down from the trees, landing in crouches to his left and right. The two veterans looked at the imposing Kyubi, who although weakened by the Shiki Fujin was still a deadly force.
"What is happening?"
"We're too late, Minato has put up a barrier around the Kyubi." The Sandaime Hokage slammed his fist into the barrier in frustration, watching as the glass thin layer rippled but held. "Whatever they're planning to do they're doing it alone."
He watched with widening eyes as the Nine Tails body changed before his eyes, like it had aged from the prime of its life to the end. It's once great muscles sagged. Its crimson fur greyed and began to fall away. Only one seal in all of Fuinjutsu was capable of doing that to a demon as powerful as the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.
"It is the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. I can't believe he actually used it." Sarutobi's voice showed his surprise.
"But the Demon Fox still stands. He didn't seal all of it."
"… but it's shrunk."
His eyes were getting heavy. Darkness assaulted the edges of his vision, slowly spreading across his sight. Naruto shook his head in a vain attempt to dispel it, but it was no good. He was dying, he knew this, and he was prepared to do so as long as he finished his last task.
He looked to his pink haired teammate, and shared a nod. Sakura had made a promise that if she survived this she would disappear into the population of Konoha, become a Shinobi with a new name and new history, start her life afresh and keep an eye on their younger selves. He was positive that his father would help her in the task.
Naruto felt a wave of nausea, and stumbled. He was caught by Minato, who allowed his son to rest half his weight on himself as he half carried half dragged Naruto over to the crib where his infant self was placed. He fell to his knees, and looked down at the baby, "Alright, now for the Eight Trigrams Seal."
The Kyubi rose from his place, shaking his huge head from side to side to dispel the nausea and dizziness from the dual Rasengan strike. The chains had loosened to the point that he had freed his forearms. The paralysis of the Dead Demon Seal was slowly wearing off, thanks to the deteriorating health of its user.
His eyes stared at the small crib, the child within and the mass of seals. He raised a clawed hand and with an almost blurring swiftness descended upon the crib. Only one person stood between him and the child, and that was the pink haired insect. Kushina saw it, as did Minato but before they could even make a move Sakura jumped between them, hands blurring through the seals of the tiger, hare, boar and dog before slamming her hands against the ground.
"Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)!"
She condensed all of her chakra into the earth, manipulated it and activated the Jutsu just as the fox's claw came within a few meters. A wall of hardened rock sprang up, nearly twenty meters high, ten wide and three deep. Even as weakened as the Kyubi was her wall was still not quite strong enough.
It slowed the Nine Tailed Demon Fox's strike, but it still pierced through the rock and kept going towards Minato and the two Naruto's. A blur of motion and Naruto moved, standing between the Kyubi and his younger self. He felt the black claw pierce his back, and exit his belly, only to keep going, right into Sakura's stomach and exiting through her back.
Both fell to their knees, feeling the Kyubi continue on, its bloodied claw now a few feet away from the baby's sleeping face. Minato appeared behind them, face set in a growl of anger for the creature, and slammed a fully formed killing Rasengan into its limb. In its weakened state he felt the Kyubi's foreleg bone crack and break. Kushina, seeing the limb continue on its course also concentrated what little chakra she had, and released a few strands of chakra chains from her back, looping and tightening around both of the monsters forearms, further slowing it down.
Sakura coughed up blood, before gathering the last few bursts of her chakra and going through the half seal of the bird before slamming her right hand onto the earth. "Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears)!"
A spike of stone exploded from the earth right beneath the beast's broken arm, piercing right through, crushing bone and stabbing cartilage. She heard the monster scream in agony and allowed a small smile to grace her lips before she fell forward, right into Naruto's waiting arms.
"Not the best idea we ever had huh?" she asked softly, trying to laugh before breaking down into a series of gut-wrenching coughs, blood dribbling down the sides of her mouth.
"Sakura," Naruto sobbed, burying his face into the top of his best friend's head. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
She looked up at him, smiling weakly. "I'm not."
Tears fell unbidden from his azure eyes as he looked into her deadening emerald. Sakura's eyes were no longer capable of focusing, eyelids drooping. "Naruto, I'm so… tired."
He planted a kiss on her forehead, "Sleep Sakura, it's all over now."
She nodded, returning his embrace with a weak hug of her own. They were like that for an eternity, before her hands went limp and fell to her sides, her head pressed against his chest. He let out a choked sob, before violently shaking his head. He had to seal the Kyubi now. Otherwise his friend's sacrifices would all be for nothing.
He reached up, wiping a spray of blood from his mouth and began to shakily make the needed seals for the Summoning Jutsu, but was barely able to make the middle seal of the bird. He felt like he was in the middle of a tunnel with a small opening at the far end.
He was barely aware of his father coming to his side, blurring through the needed seals of the boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram before slamming his hand onto the ground. A series of familiar black runes inscribed itself on the dirt and a puff of smoke blurred all vision. When it cleared he was barely able to see the familiar toad with dark blue and brownish orange skin.
The Scroll Toad, its lower body covered by a huge scroll looked to Naruto, then to Minato, then up at the Kyubi no Yoko. The toad screamed in surprise, "The Nine Tails. Minato what the hell happened here!"
"Gerotora, I'm entrusting you with the key to the seal. Take it to Jiraiya-sama. He'll know what to do with it."
"Got it." The Toad answered, making the appropriate hand seal. The paper of the scroll began to wrap around him, the symbols for the key to the eight trigrams seal appeared on the paper as it wrapped around the Scroll Toad. Before he disappeared the Toad looked to Naruto, and felt a sense of déjà vu, like he had met this dying kid somewhere before, then he vanished in a small explosion of smoke.
"Is it… done?" Naruto wheezed.
The elder blonde, feeling tears fall down his cheeks, put a shaking hand on his shoulder. "Yea kid, it's done."
"Then there's no time to lose. Bye dad, take care of yourself and mom for me." He made the last hand seal, and slammed his hand onto the ground. Before he blacked out completely he was able to mutter the needed words to finish the forbidden Jutsu. "Eight Trigrams… seal."
The sun dipped over the horizon, casting its light upon the Land of Fire. Leaves fluttered from the branches of the trees, floating with the breeze before landing softly on the ground. The devastation left by the Kyubi no Yoko's attack was all there to see. A tenth of the village had been destroyed, the casualties numbered in the hundreds, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
Minato stood in the middle of the clearing that just moments before housed the titanic sealing of the greatest of the Nine Beasts. Kushina, with Naruto in her arms, had been transported to the hospital, her cheeks slimy from crying, hands holding her baby boy like she was expecting him to vanish at any moment. He had just heard that she was stable, and little Naruto was sound asleep in his own crib.
He shouldn't be alive. He was the one who was supposed to take the burden of sealing the Kyubi no Yoko. It was his plan, he shouldn't have allowed anyone else to do it but him, least of all his own grown up son. He looked down at the three bodies of his son and teammates. Arms crossed across their chests, faces strangely serene, caked in mud and dried blood.
Before him were the bodies of three teenagers, teenagers who in this timeline were just babies. Sarutobi stood beside him, looking at his successor with a piercing gaze. "So they are from the future, I must admit I can scarcely believe it."
"Neither can I," Minato agreed as he came down into a crouch beside his son, looking into his dead blue orbs for a handful of moments before ghosting his right hand across his whiskered cheeks, closing his eyes. "But it is the truth."
"I believe you." Hiruzen said as he studied the three bodies. "So Uchiha Madara was still alive. That in itself seemed impossible, but I suppose if these three were from twenty years in the future then a man living for over a hundred years after his supposed death doesn't sound too impossible."
"Yes, but there's no need to worry, he's truly dead this time." Minato looked at his predecessor, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're wife has been avenged."
He nodded, lower lip trembling. The Sandaime reached up to wipe the unspilt tears from his eyes. "My son will be devastated."
Minato could only nod.
"This boy, he was your son?"
Another nod.
"You must be so proud that he turned out the way he did."
"I am." Minato said, before finally blurting it out. "It should have been me Sarutobi-sama. The Dead Demon Seal was my idea. I shouldn't have allowed him to use it."
Hiruzen looked at him, "You couldn't have known he was able to use that technique. In this timeline you are the only one who could utilise it."
"I know, I know all that," The Legendary Yellow Flash almost snapped, but not quite, "Doesn't make it any easier to know that my son died in my place."
"He died so you and Kushina would live." Sarutobi consoled, placing a hand on the younger mans shoulder and making him look into his wizened eyes. "With his help we suffered far less casualties than we should, many people lived thanks to him. Live Minato, live for him, and his comrades. Be there for your son as he grows, and make sure their sacrifices aren't in vain."
Minato looked into the eyes of a man who was wise beyond his years and managed a nod. "I will Sandaime-sama, I will."
Any further conversation was cut off by a sudden bright light, but not from the ascending sun over them, but below them. White light slowly encompassed the three bodies, looking an awful lot like a mass of leaves fluttering around them, and then they vanished in a flash, the masses of bright white lights flowing with the breeze into the sky.
"Have you ever seen something like that?" Minato breathed, his grief replaced by awe.
"Never," was his predecessors reply.
As the sun fully rose Minato allowed a sad smile to spread his lips. "Goodbye Sasuke, goodbye Sakura… goodbye Naruto."
Authors Note 1: Sappy I know, but I had to finish it somehow didn't I. And… that's a rap…kidding. Next up is a short epilogue, thank you everyone who followed this story thus far, and I hope I didn't disappoint you with this piece.
Author's Note 2: And no, there is no pairings in this fic other than Minato/Kushina, the Sakura/Naruto scene implies no romance in any way, only two dying friends saying goodbye, so don't complain about it.
Author's Note 3: Now onto less joyful news, I have nothing against anonymous reviews as long as they aren't flamers. I got some dickless bastard who flamed the hell out of my last chapter, called himself Ken, imaginative or what? Anyway his review went something along the lines of 'Kill yourself, but make sure you take down this shit first'. I hope he falls off a cliff or something the useless prick. If u agree with me post 'Anonymous Flamers can go to hell' at the end of your reviews. Share the love, lol.
