Thanks for praising and pointing out my errors to everyone who reviewed! :D

Answering Kinunatzs: I decided to add Namikaze because I thought Naruto wanted it and I needed something to shock Minato… eh. I'll try to make longer chapters… ;3

'blah blah blah'is the memory. "blah" is Kurama's voice.

Warning! I changed some little things in the memory. Like, I added or cut some dialogues, scenes or something. I know they're different, but I only because I wanted to add/cut them.

Plus, this chapter includes Character Death (duh), thus you have been warned.

EDIT: Edited, so a little better. I think ;)

I don't own Naruto. I think I never will.

Chapter 4: Memories: the Kyuubi attack

Kushina's POV

That damn fox is laughing at me! How dares he?! And why?

I spluttered, disbelieving. Everyone around me (Jiraya, Minato, little Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Tsunade… when did the three other kids and Akemi leave?) was staring wide-eyed at the giant Kyuubi, probably thinking along the same lines.

Older Kakashi sighed and turned around. "Kurama," he spoke (so the furball did have a name!), "Do you have any idea about the reason they are here?"

The demon shrugged. "Maybe the Juubi's remaining chakra opened a time ripple that threw all of them here. Maybe it's all an incident. But I know for sure that no one in this time managed to build up all the energy required to do this." the Kyuubi thought about it a little more.

"Probably all the chakra remained in the other timeline, otherwise I would have felt it. However, I don't know the exact reason." the fox growled, probably displeased by this.

The Kyuubi fell silent and stared at the older Hatake. I was still gawking. So Kakashi can order around that damn fox, even if it was free from the containment seal?! How is this possible? The demon didn't talk to humans without throwing a tantrum about mighty bijuus and slaughtering people! It just… didn't.

"I need to let them see some of my memories; I may need yours as well. Don't eat them, OK?"

The Kyuubi looked really annoyed. "Of course, Hatake," it sulkily growled, "ruin all my fun. It was entertaining scaring them like this, though. I'll leave." Then the newly-revealed Kurama suddenly brightened.

"I'm pleasured to have met all of you whole and alive again." it (he?) gleefully clapped his paws."it was really a long time since I had a chance to terrorize you. Farewell." The Kyuubi disappeared in a burst of flames.

Future Kakashi face-palmed and sighed, muttering something about 'overly dramatic demons', 'knucklehead's influence' and how he was going to deal with all that.

Younger Kakashi's POV

I was still shocked. Why is a giant nine-tailed fox inside my future self's head? And what did it mean by 'whole and alive again'?

Older me closed his eyes and our surroundings changed from a library to a plain white room. There were eight seats and a wide screen that covered three walls.

"I'll show you some of my and Kurama's memories," Future me stated, his expression carefully blank, "I'm giving you the possibility to choose which one you want to see first. What will be your decision?"

We stared at each other. Right now, we could see what will happen, we would know who will die and who won't, what enemies we'll face and what caused the Fourth Shinobi War.

I looked at Minato-sensei and Kushina-san. They were silent, but I knew they wanted to know everything about their son and their deaths. After all, Mirai (their niece!) declared that they died when the Kyuubi (the same demon inside my future self's head… just great) attacked Konoha while under someone's control.

Sensei seemed to understand that everyone was waiting for his decision, knowing what both him and Kushina wanted to see first.

"We'll watch… the day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha." Minato answered while everyone took a seat; from left to right, there were Tsunade, Jiraya, Kushina, Sensei, me, Rin and Obito. The last chair behind us remained empty.

Older me nodded and smiled sadly. "I'll start with Kurama's memories, then. I'll stop if you tell me to."

After saying that, he sat on the last chair and the room darkened until nothing could be seen.

Narrator's POV

The screen brightened and the memory started.

'A newborn's cry was heard in the dark room, lit by some torches on the walls. There were some people inside: a medic-nin, Biwako and, quite obviously, Minato.

His focus was plainly displayed on his face, while his hands were placed over the seal on Kushina's stomach.'

"Everything we'll see is through Kushina's point of view?" Jiraya asked, turning around to look at Older Kakashi.

"This part is," the Nanadaime explained, "However, the memories I'll show you later are either from my point of view or Naruto's." Everyone remembered that Kushina would die in the one they were watching and stayed silent.

'The seal's center resembled a black circle, showing its weak state. Minato was sweating because of his effort to stop the Kyuubi from breaking it. When he heard the cry, he looked to his right.

"I'm a father," he whispered with a genuine smile on his lips; his gaze followed Biwako, who was bringing the newborn to his wife.

Kushina looked at her son, now near her face. She tried to move her hand to hold him close.

"Finally I see you," she whispered, happy and tired at the same time "Naruto."'

Minato and Kushina stared lovingly at each other (their faces as red as the woman's hair) and the people inside the room cheered for the couple. Obito, Rin and Jiraya expressed their congratulations loudly, applauding and whistling. Tsunade and Younger Kakashi didn't, but showed their happiness all the same.

Older Kakashi remained behind them with a fond smile on his face. He missed his precious people from the moment they died, and he didn't want to make them sad now, showing them how the night ended. Still, there was no turning back now: everyone needed to know what would happen.

This way, they could change their fate for the better.

'Minato turned serious a moment later.

"Kushina, I know you've gone through childbirth, but I need to completely seal the Kyuubi right now." Saying this, he placed his hands on the woman's stomach again.

Before he could start, however, he heard two thuds from his left and saw the medic-nin and Biwako's corpses on the floor.'

Everyone gasped but stayed silent, feeling this was the moment everything went (will go?) to hell. Their questions would be answered if they continued to watch.

'"Lady Biwako! Taji!" Minato exclaimed, looking up. His eyes widened.

Kushina turned her head enough to see a masked man with a cloak holding hostage her son.'

"NO!" Kushina exclaimed. Minato seemed about to shout something too, but instead he chose to hug tightly his girlfriend.

Team Minato was too stunned to say anything, while Jiraya couldn't believe that someone managed to sneak in without alerting anyone before striking. He was sure that Minato secured the room with the most vicious seals he knew or requested at least two ANBU teams to guard Kushina!

'"Yondaime Hokage, step away from the Jinchuuriki," the man ordered, holding Naruto with his right hand with the left one over the baby, "Otherwise, I'll kill this child."'

"I-I'm the Yondaime?!" Minato gasped with wide eyes.

Everyone would have cheered again, but the mysterious man's presence was enough to stop them. Minato fulfilled his dream to become Hokage, he had a son… and all was ruined because of that enemy. The ninjas from the past mumbled their congratulations, but they regretted that Minato would die on the (supposed) best day of his life.

'Minato and Kushina's blood froze. What could the blonde do now?

The masked man decided for him and threw Naruto in the air, trying to pierce him with the kunai he tossed.

Minato, true to his nickname, flashed to his son and moved him away from the weapon's path, holding him while sticking to the nearest wall with chakra.

He quickly confirmed that Naruto wasn't harmed, but discovered that the blanket was covered with exploding tags. His eyes widened again and Minato had to teleport away with the Hiraishin to escape from the blast, which opened a hole in the wall.

The mysterious man had little trouble to grab Kushina's wrist and teleporting away with an unknown jutsu.'

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. The masked man managed to separate Minato and Kushina with a cruel but clever trap, setting off the exploding tags only when the blonde had the child in his arms. The enemy had Kushina completely at his mercy.

The two people involved hugged each other more tightly and tried to hold back their tears.

'The man used some seals to restrain Kushina the moment they appeared over a lake. The Uzumaki was severely weakened and she couldn't move from a rock over the water.

"What… what do you want?" she asked, tired and panting. She didn't recover yet from the birth.

"I'm going to remove the Kyuubi from you and destroy Konoha," the man answered in a monotone, like it didn't bother him that he was going to unleash the demon on the village. It probably didn't.

"What?" Kushina whispered, disbelieving.

"Yondaime's Hiraishin allows him to teleport between locations marked with the Jutsu's formula," the man explained, "he inserted it your seal to protect you. But I managed to distance you from him and the seal is weakened. Do you know how long I waited this moment?"

Behind the mask -which had black flame-like drawings on the left side-, his right eye widened and his Sharingan was plainly seen.'

"AN UCHIHA?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" Obito yelled, shocked by this turn of events. He did think the masked man's eye was red, but from Kushina's prospective it was impossible to see clearly. Plus, the Uchihas were loyal to Konoha, why was someone attacking Minato-sensei?!

"The Uchiha Clan is behind this attack?!" Younger Kakashi couldn't help but snarl. It was impossible to keep his emotions in check now, knowing that what he was watching would happen if they didn't do anything.

His sensei and Kushina-san were going to die and Kakashi was ready to do anything to stop that from happening: he needed to know who would do this in order to kill him!

Everyone stared expectantly at Older Kakashi. "No," he said "The Uchiha Clan (as a whole) isn't behind this attack. But one of his members is." The other seven people motioned him to tell them who he was.

"His name is Uchiha Madara. One of Konoha's founders," he flatly stated, but his mindscrape darkened to show how much he wanted to torture and kill him.

"MADARA?" Jiraya yelled disbelieving, "It's impossible! The Shodaime killed him!"

"He survived because of his Mangekyo Sharingan and what he did (will do?) there," he pointed at the screen, "was just the first step to take over the world."

Everyone was going to ask for more information, but the Nanadaime cut them off. "You'll understand when I'll show you the Fourth Shinobi War."

The ninjas shut their mouths and turned towards the screen.

'The Kyuubi, controlled by the man's Sharingan, broke completely the seal, his red chakra flying towards the dark sky and materializing a second later, revealing the massive form of a roaring Nine-tailed fox.'

Rin trembled: that thing was sealed inside Kushina (and Future Kakashi)?! The creature she saw when they entered in his mind… was the same blood-thirsty demon they were watching?

'From the Kyuubi's prospective, the seals that held the Uzumaki disappeared and she fell on the rock. Kushina and the man seemed to talk while she struggled hopelessly to stand up.

Suddenly, the Fox brought down his sharp claws to kill its jailor…'

Kushina closed her eyes and leaned deeper in Minato's embrace, unaware that his grip tightened painfully.

'The rock was immediately shattered under the Kyuubi's strength. The fox looked pleased, but its expression turned murderous again when it saw Kushina in Minato's arms over a tree. Not even a second later, the couple disappeared with the Hiraishin.'

The screen darkened, signaling the end of the memory.

Everyone was relieved that Kushina didn't die because of the demon. 'She didn't yet,' Jiraya and Minato thought grimly.

"Now," Older Kakashi spoke up, gaining the ninjas' attention, "I'll show you my memory of that night. At the time, I was sixteen." The screen brightened again.

'"My eternal rival!" a seventeen-years-old Gai shouted, "I challenge you!"'

Younger Kakashi grimaced. "He didn't change. Not even a little." Normally, Minato would be amused by his reaction but, knowing that he died during that night, he couldn't bring himself to be.

'Kakashi sighed, "Gai, tomorrow I'm busy. I don't have time to accept your challenges." The silver-haired shinobi was going towards his apartment, but his self-proclaimed eternal rival wouldn't leave him alone.

"Nonsense!" the green man exclaimed, gaining the whole streets' attention, "Our flames of Youth are enough to keep us full of energy!"

The other was about to retort when he felt something, stopping in his tracks. Kakashi looked at the sky while Gai kept walking and ranting about youth, spring, sunshine and who knows what.

"What's this?" he thought, "I hope it's nothing… Kushina's giving birth, after all."'

Not even a second later, a strong wind almost knocked him off his feet, forcing him to crouch and stick to the ground with chakra. A massive burst of smoke was seen from the other side of the village and loud roar tore through the night.

The smoke cleared and everyone could see a huge fox, its nine tails waving and crashing the buildings near the demon.

That's when the screams started.'

The red-haired woman started crying silently, even though she was comforted by Minato's presence. They were watching the Kyuubi -the same demon she was holding tightly in her seal- wreaking havoc inside Konoha, killing and destroying everything in its wake.

This was what will happen five years from when they 'left' their time; Older Kakashi said this was Madara's first step to conquer the world.

But if it was, what laid on their way to stop all of that from happening?

'Kakashi, after some seconds of blood-freezing fear, straightened and yelled, "Whoever can't fight, run inside the Monument's emergency cave! Who can, follow me!"

With that, he jumped over the rooftops together with Gai and other shinobis who joined him from the streets. Many of them were sixteen or seventeen as well, all shocked and scared by the Kyuubi's appearance.

They stopped after some meters when two ANBU shunshinned to block their path.'

"What are they doing there? Shouldn't they fight the Kyuubi?!"

Everyone thought the same, but didn't say anything to Obito.

'"Follow us," one of the ANBU ordered, heading in the opposite direction of the group.

"Why should we? The Kyuubi is there!" Kakashi yelled, pointing the rampaging demon, "We have to fight it!" What were these two ANBU thinking?!

"We have to lead you away from the battle," the other answered emotionlessly, like there wasn't a blood-thirsty bijuu wreacking havoc. Kakashi was going to say something, but the shinobi cut him off.

"These are Sandaime-sama's orders, Hatake-san."'

Everyone remained silent. For two seconds.

"WHAT?!"

This time, Rin voiced her agreement, "Obito-kun is right! They need everybody's strength to stop the Kyuubi!"

"Tch," the mentioned demon startled the seven time-travellers, "All those shinobis were little more than annoying insects. Their number wouldn't have done any difference."

A clearly smaller version of the Kyuubi appeared near Older Kakashi's side (as big as Akamaru in Shippuden). Before anyone could go in hysterics, Jiraya decided to speak up.

"Sensei is protecting the King. The younger generation."

The ninjas fell silent again and managed to ignore the smaller Kyuubi behind them.

'Kakashi gritted his teeth. 'Sandaime-sama's orders' demanded immediate obedience, whether he wanted to follow them or not.

Now was definitely not the time to fight between comrades and Kakashi had to obey.

"I can't go ahead and help Minato-sensei and Kushina-san," he angrily thought. He didn't give any sign of his emotions as he nodded and followed the two ANBUs with the other ninjas.

Kakashi still looked behind him at the rampaging demon.

"They better not be dead when we see each other again."'

No one uttered a word, but their brains were overloaded with conflicting emotions. How could Kushina's childbirth lead to this?

The screen darkened for a second before brightening.

'The Kyuubi wasn't inside Konoha anymore. It was somewhere in the woods around the village and it was still night.

Under the demon there were Minato, little Naruto and Kushina; from her back shot out some yellow chakra chains, which bound the Kyuubi and created a barrier around them.

The bijuu couldn't hear what the two people were saying, but when Minato summoned a sealing altar and started the Shiki Fujin the Kyuubi understood what they were doing.

It struggled more powerfully against the chakra chains and glared with hate at the humans under him. The Kyuubi roared furiously when the azure halo behind Minato became something dangerous - the Shinigami. Those pitiful humans were trying to seal it!

As the demon suspected, the Death God ripped its chakra (the Yin half, its oh so helpful mind supplied) and sealed all of it inside Minato, who was obviously drained and in pain because of his jutsu.

The Kyuubi growled hatefully when it noticed that it was smaller with half of its original chakra and roared in anger when Minato started another jutsu to seal the Yang chakra inside his son.'

"No!" Kushina choked between sobs, "Why should Naruto bear the burden of a bijuu since his birth?!" she screamed in distress. Minato was doing his best to comfort her, but all his attempts were useless: he was just as distraught, how could he ease her suffering?

The Uzumaki was watching the moment in which she and Minato guaranteed Naruto (their son!) the worst childhood anyone could have: without parents, relatives and their love, scorned and hated by their village because of the bijuu sealed in him.

Obito and Rin were already crying, while Younger Kakashi, Jiraya and Tsunade were doing their best to hold back their tears.

The Kyuubi wisely remained silent.

'Kushina's chains weakened when she fell in pain, and the demon smirked. It wouldn't be sealed again!

The Kyuubi raised its paw and attacked the baby, trying to kill him when Minato was concerned for Kushina. Without a vessel, the humans wouldn't seal it again! It didn't expect, though, that the two parents would be fast enough to foil its attack by shielding their son.'

At this point, no one could hold back their tears, not even Older Kakashi. Obito, Rin, Kushina and Jiraya were openly sobbing and crying, while Minato, Tsunade and Younger Kakashi tried to cry quietly.

Kurama lowered his head and left silently the room.

'Outside the chains' barrier, the Sandaime and other shinobis gathered and tried to (unsuccessfully) break inside to save their Hokage.

The Kyuubi could only growl and curse the humans when, after saying his last words, Minato finished his jutsu and sealed the demon inside Naruto.'

The scene changed, moving to Kakashi's point of view.

'There were some ninjas running after him, yelling for Kakashi to stop and follow the Sandaime's orders to stay away.

However, Kakashi wasn't an ANBU captain for nothing and no one managed to stop him.

When he noticed that the Kyuubi suddenly disappeared, the Hatake felt his stomach drop. Demons don't disappear randomly and, if the Kyuubi disappeared... then...

He shook his head. No, Sensei wasn't dead. He sped up to reach him and confirm he was actually alive and OK, not lying dead somewhere in the woods. That was something he couldn't accept.

So Kakashi jumped over rooftops, rubble, holes and trees until he saw a chakra barrier vanish. At this point, his pursuers stopped following him and he landed in the clearing.

The image he saw was burned forever in his mind.

Minato and Kushina were dead: their corpses had a gaping hole going through their abdomens and their faces were frozen in eternal blank expressions. The Sandaime, who wore his combat gear, held a crying Naruto in his arms.

His legs felt like jelly and Kakashi fell on his knees. He realized he was trembling and his muscles weighted a thousand pounds more, while his sight blurred.

Kakashi started crying, desperately trying to crawl towards his sensei.

"Why did you have to die? If only I arrived before… maybe you would be still alive, maybe Naruto would still have his family…!" he thought in despair, pleading to whatever deity was listening to return Minato and Kushina's souls to their cold corpses.'

Minato cried more. Where were Obito and Rin, if Kakashi was there? What if they were dead too?

'Kakashi tried to stand up and, after two tries, he managed to walk towards Minato's corpse before falling on his knees again.

He felt numb. Cold, empty and numb. His sensei was dead, dead, dead...

His aching legs refused to stand and Kakashi couldn't stop his tears from falling.

"Why everyone I care about dies?"'

The room dissolved slowly and the eight people regained consciousness.

Kushina's POV

I wasn't even aware that the memory finished and we were shoved again in our bodies until Older Kakashi shook gently my shoulder.

"Kushina-san," he whispered. He stepped back and let Tsunade to help me to stand up.

We left the room and Older Kakashi rearranged the protection seals on the door before teleporting all of us to his home.

A/N: LONGER CHAPTER!

That was freaking long for my standards… It's like two chapters together (8 pages)!

Well, until next time! :D

-Shiiroi Kitsune21