Warning: OC and serious screw up of original canon/timeline. NonCanon. Tiny Itachi. Actually emotional Fugaku. The overused cliché of soulsearching/rebirth with a twist! Language. Blood and Violence. Expected Character death.

A/N: Ok, turning serious again. Hopefully, the chapter isn't too gloomy. Things are happening and I'm trying to fit everything in appropriately and not screw too much with the current setting. Yet, somehow, I find myself writing more and more perspectives than I originally planned... Moving slowly here, try to bear with me.

Enjoy, this week's chapter! Yours, DR.

.oOo.

Chapter 11

.oOo.

"How does it feel?"

"Like I'd rather have it sawed off," Kakashi said pointedly through grit teeth. "Thanks for asking."

A weak chuckle followed, a foreign sound coming from the woman that only hours before had been so terrified of him. Kakashi blamed his loss of intimidation on his current state, for who could really be afraid of the pitiful image he represented at the moment? The situation was made even more degrading and humiliating because he had to use the clearly exhausted woman as a crutch, her hand latching onto his side with shaking fingers, her arm curving around his back as they slowly made their way forward, crossing empty streets and fallen rubble.

Itachi, walking a few feet ahead of them, kept sending them concerned glances at regular intervals. The image would have been funny, seeing how the boy looked much like a parent while carrying a sleeping Sasuke and simultanously keeping an eye on them, funny indeed if Kakashi didn't know he was half of the reason why Itachi kept sneaking glances at them. Kakashi suppressed a groan. He would never live this down, Kakashi noted silently to himself. Somewhat relieved that none of his ANBU associates were here to see his pitiful sight.

He hissed as Mikoto slipped on a bit of gravel, causing their precarious, upright position to jerk sideways, jarring his leg in the process.

"Sorry."

Kakashi ignored the apology, instead fixing his gaze on the distant chuunin station. It was unmanned, of course. Most chuunins were in high demand around the Village doing tasks such as herding children and other helpless civilians to safety or passing streams of information from one section to another...

He winced, drawing another steadying breath to control the pain.

During the evening Kakashi had realized that making small, concrete goals helped his motivation. A habit he had never throught necessary before. Kakashi had always been the kind of ninja who worked himself to exhaustion on a regular basis. Never contenting himself with anything less than perfect preformance. His strong work ethic and residual guilt over his own past failures driving him to do so. Thus, there had never been a lack of will on his part before. But now, with his leg the way it was, Kakashi found he needed every ounce of encouragement just to drag himself another few feet in one direction.

It did not take long for him to feel Itachi's eyes burning into him again. The boy was like clockwork, but twice as scary with his perfectly timed intervals. His gaze pierced him with a bird-like precision. But it was nowhere near as intense as before, his sharingan long faded back into obsidian as the boy's chakra faltered. Kakashi knew the feeling, sensing a similar trickle of chakra being eaten up in his left eyesocket at a steady pace, even when Kakashi wasn't using the gifted orb. If maintaining a manifested sharingan took that much chakra normally, the teen couldn't blame the boy for relinquishing his hold on the bloodline trait. The things were damn chakra intensive! More so for him, since Kakashi didn't have the heritage to support it. Only the young ANBU's fairly large chakra reserves made it possible for Kakashi to keep it active, even if it was kept quiescent most of the time.

"We could stop and rest," Itachi offered, obviously conflicted about voicing his throughts to the elder shinobi.

"I'm fine-!"

Both Mikoto and Kakashi looked over at each other, the simultanous response was annoyed in nature, but somehow managed to draw weak, lopsided smiles on their faces. Kakashi quickly averted his gaze once he realized this, not really wanting to show his amusement. Especially not now when there was no longer any shield to hide behind as his facemask had long been damaged beyond repair.

Still, Kakashi had to admit he found the bit of amusement uplifting, what with the dreary surrounds they were in. A smile was already tugging on the other corner of his lips to even out the expression, but he squashed that notion back into the firm line his lips formerly were in. Features once more perfectly controlled.

They could make it.

He was sure of it.

Kakashi wasn't really that sure why he thought that way. But something about the unrelenting set to Mikoto's shoulders that had started at Itachi's words and the way fire, warm and unbending, sparked in Kakashi's veins at the mere suggestion that they show any sign of weakness must have something to do with it.

They were not going to take this lying down. Kakashi would not take this as defeat. If he had, he would have succumbed to the masked man at first glance. He would have given up in the first place, rather than fight the fiery chakra that surged around Kushina, desperately trying to speak some sense into the woman.

Kushina...

He hadn't seen the woman since she rushed off, her monsterous form fleeing over the rooftops without even a glance back in his direction.

Kakashi had failed his mission... Again.

His mood darkened further.

If he could not manage to keep two women and two small children safe, how could he possibly be expected to protect a whole village? Of course, for a single shinobi to have such a huge impact on village defence was laughable. But, Kakashi did try to live up to his Sensei's expectations. Deep down inside, he feared being another disappointment more than anything else. Kakashi had already failed too many people to fail another.

Yet, he had succeeded at doing it again.

They trudged on.

"There's no one here," Itachi said softly as he peered through the grimy glass into the Chuunin station.

"We should have gone to the academy," Mikoto added.

"The hospital is closer." Kakashi knew the guilt the woman felt. Yet, he also expected the academy to have been sealed shut. The evacuation horn had already been silenced, which meant that the general entrances to the tunnels were sealed. He glanced towards the administration tower in the distance. The red building high in the crumbling skyline.

Had the attack been deemed to be over? Or had the higher-ups simply decided that there were none left to evacuate?

The lack of chakra signatures around them, even untrained ones of civilians, was apparent. The buildings, or what remained of them, mimicked a ghost town. Complexes of abandoned streets and lifeless housing. Only sharp prickles of chakra spread about by the patrolling shinobi moved through the chaos. None of which were near their location.

For a fleeting moment Kakashi pondered whether the evacuation had been successful? There was no doubt there had been many casualites. Many lives and families that had been touched by the destruction dealt that night...

The veiled sky above seemed to feel his sadness, its expance opening up and unloading its grief down on them. Soft rain splattered over their heads, drenching the last of fires lingering around the Village.

The four of them huddled together as they walked aimlessly. No longer sure which way was which as they tried to find medical attention. The fresh bandages wrapped around his leg were already staining red...

What would you do, Minato-sensei?

That question continued to make itself known in his chest as they wandered. His eyes roving over stray cats left behind, huddled in corners or pressed up against walls of houses. Waiting for their missing owners or a kind hand to free them of the hell they had been placed into. Odd knick-knacks and things lay spread out in the street. A single doll lying on its back the only human-like face in sight.

What would you do?

Kakashi felt he should be doing something, he just couldn't figure out what.

.oOo.

Fukasaku's eyes cracked open where he sat on the leather sofa, perking to attention at the signatures approaching.

The second day since the Kyuubi attack was already ending, yet their charges were still very much a asleep, little Naruto-chan only waking to be fed bits of this and that they had been able to find inside the apartment before going back asleep. Fukasaku was an old toad, one with many children and many more grandchildren. But even he knew that babies and newborns especially could not survive on plain, heated milk for long.

If Kushina-chan didn't wake up soon, it might be too late altogether.

The chakras stopped abruptly outside the wall to the apartment. Their energies buzzing like static, but clearly hesitant in approaching the abode.

Fukasaku could understand their hesitance. One did not simply approach the home of a man devoted to the art of fuuinjutsu without a bit of caution. Such carelessness was often paid for with more than a limb or two. And knowing Minato-chan, the apartment probably had more active security seals than Konoha had active shinobi on duty. Sometimes, more vicious ones too.

A firm knock resounded against the front door. The sound hollow, echoing through the expanse of the livingroom.

Fukasaku waited, knowing that whoever the Sandaime had sent had specific orders. But if the shinobi outside had any self-preservation instincts, he would leave the door be until it was opened from the inside.

Sure enough, after administrating another two attempts, the knocking stopped and the chakra signatures disappeared back into the deepening night.

"Tou-chan?" Shima asked softly as she came silently into the livingroom.

"Sarutobi's messengers." He scoffed, moving off the couch to patrol the few windows in the apartment, seeing to it that curtains and blinds were still perfectly closed. The seals would protect against any of their chakra leaking outside and being detected. Their signatures smothered down, made unnoticeable with the help of the strong hum Minato's chakra-infused seals weaved over the very structure of the apartment. It was a smart concealment seal, one that nullified any excess chakra and kept out invasive ones. The only true reason any of them had been able to return to the home before Kushina at all, was because of the seals laid down specifically for Minato's summons. Anchoring their summoning seal to filter into the network as a portal of entry, meant summoning themselves inside the apartment became childsplay. A nifty trick, considering how only blood of Minato and Kushina specifically could transport themselves inside without the right patterned chakra key. "I should have expected the old man would start to move sooner or later."

"He is wise, sly but wise." Shima hopped up beside him, watching him warily as he peered out of the glass through a crack in the flowy, white fabric. "He's searching for Kushina. He has to be."

"If Sarutobi is in charge, they must have already confirmed Minato's sacrifice."

Shima hummed in agreement, wondering what the old Hokage must be thinking. Sarutobi Hiruzen had already given up his seat once and to have to step up as Hokage again so soon after the power transition should have him on his toes. He was not called the Professor for nothing. Sarutobi would be expecting some kind of backlash by now, from within or outside Konoha. That he is searching for the former Kyuubi container only confirmed it.

"He cannot find her." Fukasaku dragged a hand over his face. "As long as we stay here, there is minimal chance of discovery. If it were possible, I would have reverse summoned both of them back to Mount Myoboku. But you know that is not an option. Minato was our summoner, but Kushina has no link to our contract."

"Sooner or later, they will think her dead." Shima wrung her hands, just the thought of the young woman lying stone cold somewhere around Konoha left her in a bad mood. It reminded her all too much of how close Kushina had been to dying, had she not been there to heal the worst of the damage.

For the moment, the village thinking Kushina dead might be the best outcome they could aim for. Konoha needed to forget about Uzumaki Kushina. She was the sole, remaining link to the Kyuubi and anything that had something to do with the ninetails was in danger at the moment. She sighed, knowing that sometimes lying had its merits.

"Having the Kyuubi ripped out so violently would only strengthen that suspicion. A Jinchuuriki surviving losing its tailed beast is unheard of. It's a miracle Kushina-chan has survived as it is."

Fukasaku left the window, a contemplative frown on his face. He had never been one for planning, that had always been the Ogama-sennin's forte. He only followed up on the visions he had been told. But as hard as he tried, Fukasaku could not remember ever being informed of this twist in fate. Had the old one been holding back on them?

"I've contacted Jiraiya." Shima brightened at his words. "He's finishing up in Rain at the moment, which means there will go some time yet before his return. I sent one of the young ones to reverse summon him as soon as he's able to leave."

"Jiraiya-chan always knows what to do," Shima nodded in approval of his decision. The Toad Sage might be unreliable around women, but he was more than serious when it came to family. And Minato had been exactly that to him, even though they were teacher and student. It was a bond they valued more than bloodties and Minato's budding family had become an extension of his own. "Jiraiya will love the boy. He's so much like Minato-chan in appearance, its almost heartbreaking to see. But the fire of Kushina is within him as well."

Fukasaku laughed, a true and honest one despite its gravelly nature. "Yes, he needs to know now that he's a godfather. Minato would have liked Jiraiya to be present in the boy's life. Even more so now when Minato-chan himself can't watch over them."

"That he would."

.oOo.

The sharp tinge to the air had him on edge, even if he was having trouble keeping his eyelids open. All around them, there was a loud hum of working people. Hospital staff rushing here and there. White dressed medic nin clearing away this and that to try and make more room for those who needed it.

There were no longer any hospital rooms available. All had been showed to simple cots along the floors as beds were no longer vacant.

Thankfully, the Konoha Hospital itself had been mostly unharmed by the recent events. With the threat on Konoha taken care of, the wounded streamed into the white-walled establishment. Adults sat silently as they tended simpler wounds. Children cried beside injured parents or siblings. A larger share of people waiting patiently to receive care while others demanded attention despite having only just arrived.

Every now and then, a stretcher or shinobi carrying wounded comrades needing emergency care rushed through the large door to the assembly hall. Each occasion would send murmurs flying between those present, wondering what happened and if the ninja in question would survive their extensive wounds.

Itachi satisfied himself with the knowledge that they were all safe. Or as safe as one could be considering the circumstances.

Kakashi had been carried off upon their arrival to get his leg tended to. The normally few-worded teen as pale as his ghostly hair. His mother had tried to reassure him afterwards that the young ANBU would be alright, but Itachi knew comforting lies when he saw them. The slight gleam to her eyes made it clear that she was fearing the worst. The amount of blood he had lost alone was worrying.

Their own injuries were simple in comparison, though Mikoto still fussed over him. Insisting to the stern faced nurse that they care for him and Sasuke first.

Itachi had been mostly unharmed, though his chakra reserves were dangerously low due to him keeping his sharingan activated for almost a day straight. Chakra exhaustion and regular tiredness made itself known as fast as they entered the hospital. The five-year-old quickly falling into an uneasy slumber while they waited for someone to take a look on them. What felt like days of rest had been less than hours in real life, leaving his limbs heavy and strangely powerless. As if the stress had kept them attentive and without it they were now prone to falling asleep all on their own instead.

The chakra replenishing pill he got from the medic did help with the worst of it. Which was the only real reason why Itachi was barely conscious at all at the moment.

The medic hissed upon seeing the blistering and crackled skin along Sasuke's back. Her questioning eyes only driving the guilt Mikoto felt in further.

"These are electricity burns," the medic said smoothly in that practiced, detached tone. Her experienced hands glowing green as she tried to numb the areas enough to clean and wrap them. The hospital was strained by the overload of patients seeking care and staff had been ordered to keep all chakra healing techniques down to a minimal and reserve chakra for more severe injuries. "It's only the first layer of skin, which will heal fine as long as there is no infection."

Air whooshed out of Mikoto's lungs in relief, her form slumping on the floor space they had been alotted for their stay. "But he will survive, won't he? He won't... be too affected by the wounds?"

It worried her that Sasuke was so silent, even when awake. It was unusual for the baby. Surely, pure exhaustion could not claim that piece of him as well? Sasuke had always been a lively child, in his own way. Well aware of how he had everyone close to him wrapped around his chubby, little finger.

"No. The chakra coils are deeper down and in a baby as young as he is, they are fairly undeveloped at this stage. There will be scarring, of course." She leveled Mikoto with a heavy gaze. "That is unavoidable considering the widespread nature of the burns, but they will fade with time."

Itachi's brow furrowed as he listened to their words. Understanding that there had been some kind of discussion about how the burns would affect his brother in the future, aesthetically but not physically. True, Itachi did worry about his brother's injuries, ever since sensing them back in the tunnel. It hurt. Because the prospect of Sasuke being exposed to any kind of pain or violence made his heart ache. It made Itachi feel inadequate in his role of brother. It was a great failure this early on in their brotherly bond for him to not have been able to protect Sasuke from being hurt.

Once again, Itachi cursed the masked man.

If not for him, none of his family would have been injured in the first place!

Both Uchihas watched in sufficating silence as the medic tended to the wounds, spreading antibacterial salve over the naked flesh in large amounts before wrapping it sealed with what looked like a crossbreed between thin, jelly-like net and sterile gauze, before covering it with a final layer of crisp, pristine bandages. So heavily wrapped up, most of the Sasuke's skin was hidden beneath the white, which left only his legs and arms uncovered.

"Remember to keep him warm and hydrated. Burns often leads to dehydration because of the lost barrier between flesh and air. I'll see to it that one of our younger apprentices supply you with enough babysupplies and water. Painmedication will be regulated but administrated at certain intervals so just wave them in when the nurses circulate the area." She raised her gaze to Mikoto. "And at the slightest sign of infection, send for me, understood?"

Mikoto nodded. Her hands adjusting Sasuke on the cot. Her worried eyes constantly straying to her children. The children that meant the world to her.

The medic watched the woman. Her face was pale and skin clammy. For an Uchiha, she wasn't looking so good. Which made her even more suspicious. The medic turned in her crouch, waving another nurse in. Uchiha were proud and stubborn creatures, after all. She would not put it past this one to downplay her injuries.

The fresh nurse, young with sandy blonde hair, soon stopped beside her.

"Fumi-san. Can I bother you with watching these children while I examine the mother?"

The nurse looked curiously between her superior and the rapidly paling Uchiha beside her. "Of course."

The medic smiled, a strained one that spoke of the unease she felt. "Wonderful. Now, if you could come with me for a moment, Uchiha-san?"

Mikoto's grip around Itachi's middle tightened and it made Itachi's reflexes highten in turn. He sent large, obsidian eyes up at her face. Seeing the carefully controlled strain there. The line that had started to deepen from forcing her face into a stiff grimace ever since the attack at the birth.

Mikoto's throat convulsed, dread filtering into her stomach as she tried to not give away too much of the pain that had made her stomach awfully sensitive to even her swallowing. Anything really that affected the muscles around the area.

The look in the medic's eyes told her she had no choice. Mikoto would have to submit or she would be forced to. So it was only a matter of time before she would have to give in sooner or later...

"Fine." Itachi blinked as her grip loosened around him. His mother's long hair brushing his shoulder before she pulled herself unsteadily to her feet. "I'll be right back, Itachi."

Itachi would have nodded, but the fake smile on her face stopped that motion and all he could do was stare in silence after her as his mother was led away through he crowd towards the more heavily equipped examination rooms.

.oOo.

Kushina groaned.

Every single part of her ached. Her heartbeat increasing from the pain. Yet, as her eyes opened to settle on bloodstained sheets she couldn't see the extensive injuries all the blood should have come from.

Instead, she saw the raw alternative of newly formed skin. Her normally pale complexion ranging from pink to angry red. Thick, smooth scar tissue covered the worst of the wounds visible. She lifted her fingers, the tips of them coming to rest on similar textures on her face. A jagged line marked out an edge where a scar melded with her right cheek.

She pushed hair out of her face, grimacing as she felt the naked parts of her scalp where some of it had been singed off. Much of the formerly long strands were shortened by the intense heat of the Kyuubi's chakra, leaving the remaining ends curled slightly.

"I'm a mess..." Kushina said with nonexisting humor, dry laugh rattling her sore throat. She felt like crying, but it wouldn't do anything to help her in her situation so Kushina pushed the stinging liquid back behind her eyes, forcefully calming her breathing.

Judging by the patches of smooth skin, Kushina concluded that her body did try its best to heal the damage dealt by the Kyuubi's chakra. Her Uzumaki life-force was strong in that way, but there was no doubt in her mind that even her increased healing-abilities were too slow this time to fully repair the damage the Kyuubi's fox cloak had done on her body.

She bit her lower lip in bitterness, feeling the sensitive flesh start to bleed again.

If there was something good about the fox, it was that its presence sped up her healing even further. Kushina never had to suffer any scars before, as the Kyuubi's chakra always made even the smallest of wounds and scratches disappear fully without a trace. Now, it seemed, Kushina had to experience the ugly side of her vocation like every other Shinobi did.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Kushina."

Her head snapped to the other side of the room at the rough voice, eyes unbelieving while, at the same time, her heart eased some of its worry hearing it. "Jiraiya-san."

"I thought we put titles and such behind us years ago when you revealed me to be spying on the women's section at the hot springs?" He bent forward in the chair to to lean his forearms on his knees. That cascade of wild, white hair rustling with the shift over one shoulder. "Though, that henge couldn't possibly have counted as a good disguise, I admit."

Kushina's lips quirked at the memory and it felt good to know that a piece of that same fiery redhead still remained beneath that changed exterior. Sad, dark eyes took in the change that had taken place. The woman once known for her exotic beauty only seen in Whirlpool genetics looked like an altered version of herself. Her long, crimson hair no longer fell in a silky waterfall down her form, but was chopped short in places, singed beyond repair in others and curled too look like a particularly bad experiment-gone-wrong in hairdressing.

Jiraiya knew, of course, from the recounts Shima had told him of Kushina's initial appearance that this was a great improvement. But he still found it hard to look at the patchy skin. Some places left untouched, other's healed into thick, pink scarring. Not even her face had been left untouched, though it was perhaps the worst affected area. Her skin was mostly pink now, leaving only a thin, sweeping line of milky white skin from two thirds of her forehead, down her right cheek and reaching lower still on the side of her neck.

He supposed, that if you squinted hard enough, it looked like a bad sunburn. That is if one disregarded the thin scars lining her temple and left jaw... But the facial bonestructure beneath still gave the impression of her former beauty.

To think that one day could change a woman that much yet the inside remained much the same...

You chose a strong woman, Minato. Kushina had to be, to be able to handle the Kyuubi. But even now, without that pressure looming over her she still stands strong.

Kushina pulled herself up into a sit, the blankets and sheets slipping off her form causing Jiraiya to hastily avert his eyes towards the much safer subject of a small, tree-shaped hanger in the corner of the room, a present Jiraiya had bought the couple on one of his travels. Yet, he still found his cheeks heating with embarassment for himself and the situation he had put himself in.

Jiraiya gave a sharp cough, trying to mask his obvious discomfort, hoping the woman would take the hint. Because although Jiraiya had inspected the damage done to her body while Kushina was asleep, it was a different matter altogether to oogle her now when she was fully conscious. Jiraiya might be a ladies man, but he was above leering at vulnerable women. This was Minato's wife, for heavens sake!

His family.

"Where's Naruto?" came Kushina's confused voice and he heard the shift of the sheets as she wrapped them around her.

Ah, so she noticed then.

"Shima's got him. I bought some formula on my way here and the little sucker has been greedily eating for the last half hour." He slid his eyes back over but shook his head seeing the woman openly grope at her covered breasts in disbelief. Jiraiya sighed, a long and weary one. "I didn't really come to grips with all the details, but Shima said something about the stress shutting down the milk factory. They've been feeding him ordinary milk for days, but the lack of nourishment must have left him hungry. Not the same, is it? Human and cow's milk," he said with a wiggle of his brows.

In hindsight, he probably should have expected the brush that was thrown at him. Kushina really had a good arm in a pinch!

"Unnecessary!" she growled, before pushing herself up on her feet. She wavered for a moment, before she finally regained control of her balance.

"Good to see you still have some fight left in you, Kushina." His smile faded a fraction, his face growing more and more serious now that her attention had shifted off him. He never liked being the focus of her ire. Kushina was very much like Tsunade in that way. It had to be the common Uzumaki temper.

"I really didn't know what to expect once I heard the news. If Fukasaku hadn't sent for me..." Jiraiya shook his head to abort his thoughts. He didn't wish to think of 'what if's. His mind and heart were already too deep with regret thinking, 'what if' he had been here a bit earlier? What if Minato had sent for him before it was too late? Would his student still be alive then? Could Jiraiya somehow have prevented this whole thing from happening?

Jiraiya had yet to meet up with his sensei, knowing the old man would think it suspicious to find him in the village without any prior notice. Their regular correspondence had not let on that he would return to Konoha anytime soon, and doing so now would only make it all too easy for him to put two and two together. Jiraiya gripped the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, feeling a headache approaching. He really hated decieving his sensei and father figure, but he had to. For if what Fukasaku and Shima had been telling him was correct than there were more lives than his hanging in the balance. Lives that could be affected by the very choices he made...

He could worry about Konoha and his sensei's guilt-inducing stare later. Now, he needed to concentrate on Kushina and his godson. The two individuals in the world that need him more than anything.

Jiraiya knew what it was like to live alone in the world, before he found family in the makeshift team he had been placed on. He learned early on how it felt to loose someone and experience events beyond your control. He would not allow either Kushina or little Naruto suffer the same consequences. Not if he could avoid it!

"I want you to take it easy, Kushina. You need rest and time to recover. Not everyone go through a bloody birth and a tailed beast extraction on the very same day."

"You heard about that, huh?"

Jiraiya frowned, finding her ashamed words worrying. He realized the redhead probably blamed herself for the Kyuubi being set free. But really, the extenuating circumstances were less than favorable at the time. Just giving birth was sure to push the seal beyond its limits! Jiraiya had conferred with Minato on the subject for months prior to the birth. Their mutual worry that the seal would be unable to go through such strain had seemed justified at the time and had very much scared even Jiraiya. But more so, he hated himself for being right in his initial assumptions, yet he hadn't done enough to prevent it. Sometimes, he really envied Tsunade and her famous bad luck!

Still, if Minato had been able to monitor the seal properly before and after the event, a newly sprung-free bijuu wouldn't have been a problem. The equation had been made even more complicated with the addition of a previously unknown variable.

None of them could have predicted that someone would attempt and then succeed to break through their numerous safety measures. Kushina would have been least to blame out of the group of people involved. Just because she was the kyuubi's jailor didn't mean she had the power to control every bit of the events that had unfolded that night. It was just sad that the woman was too stubborn to see it.

"Minato didn't relay much about what happened during the attack, Kushina. But it's not hard to deduce that something went seriously wrong. Something that none of us could have planned for... Security should have been top notch. The location hidden and kept under wraps until after the birthing had been completed and the seal stabilized. That was the agreement between Minato and Sarutobi-sensei."

"Yet, someone still spilled the beans," her voice shook with emotion, a clear stance of defiance as she stood watching in the half-open doorway. Her baby was safe, being fed with a bottle by the elder amphibian and under her wise, watchful eyes. "Someone had to, Jiraiya. Nobody knew I was in labour. Minato used the hiraishin to move us over to the facility so that we wouldn't attract attention in Konoha. There was no way anyone could have known what was happening that morning."

She gripped her stomach. Her newly healed fingertips digging into the flesh underneath the sheet where a seal had once marked her. Now, only the ghostly whispers of ink Minato had laid down remained. A last smudge of his life on hers.. Almost desperately, Kushina tried to fill the aching hole there. To think that she would one day miss having that heated ball of energy anchored deep in her belly! That not being able to feel the seal and the chakra it regulated would leave her feeling this empty and alone.

But she was.

Kushina was alone in the world. The Kyuubi had been ripped from her and she had been left cold in the dust. With Minato gone to the afterlife, Kushina was left with only a handful of people she could trust. A small consolation when up against the mass of people that would want her punished for her failure too keep the calamity she harboured locked away.

It was all a frightening concept for her and now she had to face it all with a newborn infant to take care of to boot!

Suffice to say that all the lingering instincts the ninetails had instilled in her were running amook in her bloodstream, screaming at her to seek out cover and safety for herself and her offspring. She was in Konoha, a place that should be nothing but safe for the both of them, yet Kushina found herself doubting that conviction. For could she ever look upon the village with anything but guilt? And could the village ever forgive her for what she had unleashed on them?

"Was there anything out of the ordinary?" Jiraiya asked carefully, seeing the way her jaw had clenched tight. "It's hard to believe that the enemy would simply manage to pop into existance from thin air in an ANBU secured location."

Kushina frowned, her eyes darknening as she thought of it.

The guards had been killed. But the guards themselves hadn't known anything about the location before Minato had brought them there and they hadn't left the area once during the birth. The same went for the medics and Lady Biwako.

Her eyes closed at remembering the woman, but she soon swallowed past the lump intent on lodging itself in her throat.

"Kakashi.." she said softly, her eyes still unable to face the world as her heart started to make painful connections Kushina hadn't thought off before. Jiraiya startled at the name, but remained silent, waiting for her to gather her thoughts on Minato's sole living student. "I.. sent Kakashi away mid-birth to fetch Mikoto. I needed her, Jiraiya. I wouldn't have been able to pull through without her support," she reasoned seeing his darkening countanance. His strong arms crossing before him as he stood and paced the room threateningly.

In that moment, there was no question that the man was one of the legendary Sannin. Jiraiya exhuded power. A presence only standing on battlefields stained with the blood of hundreds gave you. Kushina would often shout at, scold and reprimand the man. God, the world knew the Toad Sage could test her patience at the best of times. But contrary to the laughing and playful visage Jiraiya so often displayed while off duty, this one was completely serious. A perfectly honed blade, ready to lash out at the smallest hint of danger to the things he cared about; women, family and Konoha.

Last Kushina saw him like this was at the strategic, on field, war council Konoha held at the end of the Third Shinobi War. When Konoha was finally about to finish the last opposition Iwa presented before calling for peace and the end of that dreadful war. To end years of warring and bloodshed. Kushina had been a mere soldier in the ranks then, not even close to Jiraiya the Sannin and his successor, Minato, who were an intricate part of the leaf's defense and strategic mind.

Kushina had barely spoken any words to Minato during the war beyond exchanging opinions at the regular meetings. The two of them only knew each other from their encounters before the war. When her kidnapping had set the stage for the feelings they would one day harbour for each other.

Back then, she had been dead tired yet wishing to keep up a strong facade. Kushina was the new Jinchuuriki, after all.

Kushina had only seen them as heros. Could only admire the strength, sharp mind and wise calls the duo made between the relentless arguments of the opposing sides.

A small piece of her secretly wishing that some day, she too would be able to exhude such an aura...

Jiraiya turned sorrowful eyes on her, breaking her thoughts.

"The Uchiha, you say," his voice low and oddly tense. As if there was any particular reason why that particular piece of information should have warrented such a guarded response. It set the small, soft hairs along the back of Kushina's neck on end. "And where is Uchiha Mikoto now?"

# To be continued...