Naruto has red hair in this story.
Uzumaki and Senju Clan Centric
More focus on Jinchuuriki, and each of them will have importance in the story other than just being Jinchuuriki.
* Kyuubi Talking *
*Thinking *
*Kyuubi thinking*
*Talking*
Throughout Konoha, the village was crying from the recent loss of their hero and arguably their strongest Hokage. By far, the loudest cries could be heard in a room where the cries of a newborn baby were powerful.
Konoha: Secret Room
"It's as if he knows that he has lost both of his parents." Said a tall man with spiky white hair. A conversation was held between only a select few of the Konoha's shinobi in the room with the newborn baby boy.
"Yes, today we lost many good shinobi, the civilians still fear for their life, most of the land is up in a blaze, but on top of it all, we have lost our Fourth Hokage and the last heir of the Uzumaki Clan, Kushina Uzumaki. The saddest part of all is that this child won't know what they even look like." said the second voice of an old man who looked to be in his late 50's.
"Jiraiya-san, since you are this boy's godfather what do you suppose we should do?" Asked the older man.
Jiraiya began to speak in a low and sad manner, "Not sure sensei. I'm sure Minato would want me to watch over the child, but I have to travel a lot so I'm not sure what I would be able to do. The real question is what will the village do now? Minato died without claiming a successor." Both men in the room went silent, waiting for the former Hokage to speak.
Sarutobi closed his eyes, saying, "I will take up my title of becoming Hokage yet again until I can find a suitable replacement to run the village." He faced his former student and one of his most loyal ninjas, Jiraiya, telling him, "Jiraiya, I have a mission for you." He said
"What is this mission you have for me Sarutobi-sensei?" He asked curiously but glanced at the little baby crying.
"I want you to try and deceive the other villages with your spy network so that we have enough time to heal our ninja squads and rebuild Konoha's defences," Sarutobi instructed him.
Jiraiya responded to the old kage, "I never intended to use my spy network for that purpose, but it seems I don't have a choice. By the way Sarutobi-sensei, you should change the child's last name from Namikaze to Uzumaki."
The elder Ninja understood what he meant since Minato had many enemies in Iwa, including the Tsuchikage even enemies in other parts of the elemental nations. The Uzumaki clan has long since faded into the darkness, with very few remembering the clan. And to top in all that, the baby 'Naruto' had red hair like his mother.
"Very well, I will have to change the boy's name to Uzumaki." The Hokage decided.
Sarutobi saw as his student leaned closer to the baby, who was calmer now, there was sadness and sorrow in the eyes of Jiraiya.
Naruto opened his eyes slowly; his eyes were bright blue like the ocean. Naruto was looking at Jiraiya curiously.
"Would you look at that, same eyes and I think his hair is already becoming spiky like Minato's," Jiraiya said, looking down at the boy.
The sage smiled and put his finger close to his cheek. Naruto smiled and tried to move his baby hands to the finger touching his cheek, but he still couldn't.
Sarutobi noticed the look of sadness, but there was also love in his eyes now.
"Three lines on each cheek that look like whiskers, is this the sign that he is a jinchuuriki? Kushina never had them, but then again her seal was different wasn't it" Jiraiya said.
"No from what we can gather, those marks were there before the sealing. So they are only birthmark's if I was to have a guess I would say it was because his mother held the Kyuubi when he was born," Hiruzen said.
Jiraiya nodded understanding and kept looking at the baby, who kept looking at him.
"I will make sure to visit you every once in a while," Jiraiya said smiling and turned his head to his sensei.
"I will leave now, I will return as soon as I can. I should be on my way, if I have to leave I better just get it out of the way now. Keep the kid-safe sensei, I do not want to have to face Kushina when I die if Naruto gets there before me. Oh, and I am sorry to hear about your wife," Jiraiya said, and just like that, he was gone leaving through the window, much to the Hokage's annoyance.
Tomorrow
Facing Kyuubi was dangerous, but facing the council was a headache that the Hokage couldn't handle.
Right now, he was facing his second greatest enemy. The Council.
Every clan head discussed what they would do now, the civilian council and the elders made of Koharu, Homura, and Danzo.
Sarutobi had left the little Naruto in the care of some of his ANBU and one of the best shinobis of the village, Kakashi Hatake.
The civilian council was discussing with each other how bad things were now. How many they had lost and how much it would cost to go back to normal. The clan heads were quiet. Alone in their own thoughts, even the likes of Hiashi and Fugaku were quiet.
"Where's the fourth?" The head of Clan Nara asked, looking at his Hokage.
"Not that I have anything against you lord third but is the fourth in the hospital," the clan head added respectfully.
Saying that everyone could see the sadness in the eyes of the old Hokage.
Shikaku's eyes widened when he noticed that. He knew that look very well. He had seen that look before and didn't need a confirmation to understand what had happened to Minato.
"The Fourth died sealing the Kyuubi," The old man announced, and there was complete silence. No one was saying anything. Shikaku lowered his gaze, his friend and his Hokage was dead. The same thought was in many of the clan heads. Minato was a well-known Shinobi, and to lose him was a tragedy.
"He sealed Kyuubi where?" Danzo suddenly asked, breaking the silence. The Hokage narrowed his eyes at him. Asking that question, the whole civilian council started asking the same question.
Sarutobi raised his hand to silence them. "He sealed Kyuubi into a newborn baby. Naruto Uzumaki," he answered warily of what they would think about this situation.
Just as he predicted, the civilian council was in an uproar demanding for Naruto to be killed. 'Kill The Demon' or 'He's Weak now, Throw him outside the village.' Hearing this kind of reaction, Sarutobi released his killing intent which made the whole civilian council see visions of their own death. Even most of the head clans were having a hard time to breath.
A certain Nara was quiet; he remembered the name his friend Minato said they would name his son 'Naruto.' He immediately understood who the baby was.
"SILENCE," Sarutobi Hiruzen demanded, and the whole council was quiet as a grave. He looked at every face on the council with his darkened face promising nothing but a pain if they didn't stay silent.
"Minato wanted for Naruto to be seen as a hero, not as a monster, he's the one who's keeping the Kyuubi from coming out and destroying us all," The third said with a threatening tone. Some of the civilian council wanted to say something against that but seeing the killer look of lord third, they held their tongue.
"I will retake the hat and will become the third Hokage again," The third announced. The council didn't look against that except Danzo, who looked irritated. He wanted to become the new Hokage; people like Hiruzen made Konoha weak.
"Who is Naruto's parent's lord third?" A Hyuga asked, his eyes filled with sadness for the fourth.
Sarutobi had decided not to tell them because he was afraid that the information would leak out, and soon the other four great shinobi villages would know that Minato has a son. Iwa would stop at nothing to kill him for what The Fourth did against them when they tried to conquer the leaf village.
With a serious look, Sarutobi answered. "I don't know, but I know that his parents died fighting against Kyuubi."
The head of the Hyuga clan didn't buy it but didn't say anything against it. He glanced at Shikaku Nara and noticed he had already figured out who his parents might be.
Hearing that the boy had no parents was good for the civilian council. Some of them had already started thinking about hurting the demon, and having no parents to watch over him made things easier.
The elders knew who the boy's father might be. On the other hand, Danzo knew full well who it was and knew the boy could be turned into a proper weapon and be valuable to the village, just like how Kumo did with their Jinchuuriki.
A cough was heard, and Hiruzen turned his attention to Danzo.
"Hokage-sama, I would suggest to give me the boy. I can train and turn him to a fine wea . . . Ninja of the village," Danzo suggested with a little smirk.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, and so did some of the clan heads. "No. And the boy has a name. He will be raised like a normal boy in the orphanage," The Hokage announced with a firm tone.
Danzo didn't like this one bit. There are other ways to make him mine, he thought.
"Hokage-sama with all respect, let me raise him. He would have a family and can be like a brother for my son," Shikaku suggested, and most of the council looked at him surprised since they didn't expect someone like Shikaku to say that.
"I'm sorry but the request is declined. I can't give Naruto to any clan. He will be raised in the orphanage and when he turns 6 years old. He will go to the academy," The Hokage announced. Despite wanting to give Naruto to Shikaku. He knew he couldn't do that. That would make all the other clans unhappy, especially the Uchiha clan.
Before Shikaku could disapprove. "You would Let that Demon Join the Academy and become stronger," someone from the civil council yelled.
The Hokage narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He was furious for calling Naruto a demon. He made a sign with his hand, and the head of the man who yelled was rolling on the floor, and blood flew everywhere. The civilians were shocked but kept quiet.
The Hokage waited a few minutes to see if anyone else didn't like their head anymore. There was only silence, and the Hokage decided to change the subject.
"Now that we are done with this. I want to talk about how much we lost and the cost to rebuild" The Hokage decided to change the subject.
During all this, a specific clan head was quiet. He was Fugaku Uchiha, the head of Clan Uchiha. Fugaku knew very well who are the parents of the boy. His wife Mikoto was a good friend of Kushina Uzumaki. He wasn't sure how his wife would react when she heard that he would be raised in an orphanage. But he wasn't looking forward to it.
At the end of the meeting, the Hokage announced never to talk about Naruto being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. That information was an S-class secret, and talking about it would result in a death sentence.
While all this was happening, a baby with red hair was sleeping. The seal in his stomach couldn't be seen. He was covered with sheets to keep him warm. Naruto was sleeping without making a sound, but only he could feel when his seal started glowing red for a few seconds and then stopped.