It began with the billowing crash of air into a sea of dark flames. The darkest night in Konoha's short history. A resentment sparked by the founder of a clan, fanned to a blaze by a man long dead, left to burn unchecked under the surface until the foundation of peace crumbled into ash beneath their feet.
"Minato?!" Kushina asked as she awoke, her husband already out of bed and at the window of their compound.
"Someone's attacking," he answered quickly as he took in the uncanny sight of dark illumination ravaging not only the Uzumaki clan compound but also various locations within the village itself. The Sarutobi Clan had also been hit. As well as more standard blazes consuming other prominent clan grounds. "Take Naruto, get to the safe room!"
"But–!"
Whatever she had to say was rendered meaningless as her husband disappeared in a yellow flash. Even if she had to protect her child, she couldn't bring herself to abandon her clansmen, not after nearly losing everyone once already. She barged out of their bedroom, bare feet padding against the wooden boards as she threw open the door to her son's room. "Naruto?" she asked quietly, urgently, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw her little boy.
He had heard the sounds too, could hear the screams just as she could. "Mama?" he asked, worry plain on his little face. He didn't, was too young to fully understand but he didn't need to. Death was starting to permeate the air. An aura of malice and despair thick enough that it was growing hard to breathe.
Even so, the Uzumaki matriarch pasted a reassuring smile on her face as she swept him up into her arms. "It's okay, baby. Mama's here," she assured him, already calculating her next step. Minato had said to get to the safe room and she would. But she had to try to save someone else. These were her people being attacked! She couldn't do nothing!
Back into the hallway only to get a glimpse of a shadow, a dark figure moving down the hall with ominous red eyes spinning wildly. She saw the figure's hands move and she leapt back into her son's room. "Fire Style! Grand Fireball!" In an instant, the darkness had been dispersed by a wave of flame consuming the hallway and crashing through the far wall. Naruto screamed, hiding himself in her hold as much as he could.
She quickly shifted her hold on him to one hand to grab a kunai hidden in her sleepwear, barely in time to block the swift blade of the ninja she had seen. In the light, this close, there was no mistaking the Uchiha before her. She wasn't familiar with all of the Uchiha, but she did recognise this one. A respected Chunin. "Why are you doing this?!" she demanded, her blade locked with his.
"The Uchiha will rise!" he snarled at her, backing off, hands already moving through seals. He wasn't fool enough to engage her at close range.
But even so, she didn't need to be close to end this. Whoever he was, he had attacked her in her own home with deadly intent even as she held her infant son. She had no inclination to show mercy. Before the Chunin Uchiha could get through half of the seals for his technique, the back of Kushina's nightgown tore open, golden chains erupting from her back and skewering the invader with deadly swiftness. Any attempt he could make at dying vengeance was prevented as the chains bound his limbs while he took his last breaths. As he slumped in the grasp of her chakra constructs, she released him, discarded him. He was no longer important. What was important was–
The screams. She... She couldn't hear them anymore. The only sounds were the flames as they consumed her world. Her clan, her people they were–!
... Naruto. What was important was Naruto. Minato would get revenge for them, she knew. But right now she had to keep her baby boy safe!
No chance to be subtle now that she had released her chains. She sprinted down the hall paying no attention to the flames as they licked and scorched her feet. Another Uchiha wasn't even given the chance to cry in alarm as a golden chain struck, circled and snapped his neck. She kept moving, ignoring the shout of alarm as one of the Uchiha corpses was discovered. She didn't know or care which. She was already at the safe room door. Pressing a bloody hand against the wood the sealing matrix opened, allowing her to pass through and open the door. Slamming it behind her, she sunk to her knees as the seal slammed shut with an unnatural sound like a wooden clang.
She heard the voices on the other side of the door.
"Which way did she go?!"
"In here! I saw someone come this way! She has to be in here!"
"Wait, those are seals. It has to be a trap. A safe room or something."
"Uzumaki and their damn seals. Then we burn the place down around her! Fire Style! Grand Fireba–!"
And then... More screams began.
All the while, Kushina rocked her son soothingly, hiding his ears from the sounds of dying traitors as best she could as she sang to him, fighting to keep her voice steady through her tears.
Meanwhile, Minato looked over the village with despair. It had taken him only a moment to deduce what was taking place. All it took was seeing the one clan compound that was completely untouched by the fighting.
The Uchiha were staging a coup.
It was horrifying how well coordinated it was. Each clan had been targeted, forcing them to delay in providing support to defend the village. Each clan attacked with surgical precision. Not to destroy, but to keep them occupied. He had a feeling most weren't even assaulted directly by ninja. The only ones who were... The Uzumaki who had effectively adopted him after he married Kushina. And the Sarutobi, the home of the previous Hokage before him. They had focused entirely on removing the figures who could lead the village, in hopes of removing any choice but to allow the Uchiha to seize power.
They had targeted him, too. And in a way he had not expected.
His first flash from his home, it took him to the top of the Hokage monument so he could survey the situation, but he had to flash away again instantly as he saw the strange black flames consuming his landing point. Then again. And again. Again. Again. Again. Before long he was forced to give up finding a safe spot, returning to the monument and throwing one of his Thunder God kunai to get himself away from the danger. Even then the dark flames had licked at his coat, forcing him to discard it. He had to protect his village. He had to–
He suddenly flashed away from his position at the feeling of killing intent, just in time to avoid another burst of black flames. He whirled around, eyes scanning for the threat, following his instincts, he threw another kunai and flashed to it, grabbing it out of the air and striking, clashing against another. He locked eyes with his opponent, most likely the instigator of this coup. They were Uchiha eyes. The Sharingan, but also different. An additional pattern could be seen in one of the notorious red eyes. The other was significantly darkened, but showed the same pattern. But more than that, Minato recognised the man who was trying so earnestly to kill him.
"One hundred and eight," Fugaku Uchiha spoke, drawing out each word, "That is how many of your seals were found throughout the village. How auspicious. Do you consider yourself a pious man, Fourth Hokage?"
The blond wasn't about to indulge such a pointless question. "Why are you doing this, Fugaku?"
"I should think it obvious," Fugaku answered without answering. Once again sensing the threat before it happened, Minato flashed away, once again dodging the doubtless dangerous technique.
It was only then as he watched his enemy did he see the rivulet of blood run down from the Uchiha's eye. That technique, it injured him? And it came from the darkened eye, he must have used it hundreds of times to cause this much chaos and damage all at once.
The clan head sighed through his nose, having hoped for an easy win. An instant technique versus an instant technique. The moment of intent was all the warning the Hokage needed to escape. He really was just that good. "Since the very founding of this village, made possible only by our cooperation with the Senju, the Uchiha have been treated with suspicion and disdain. The Second's hatred for us was legendary and with his merciful death, his student was chosen to lead the village. Then as the Senju clan dwindled to nothing more than a single gambling lush, we knew our time had come."
Fugaku's disgust was overwhelming as he spoke his next words. "Then you came along. The student of the student of Hiruzen. Married into a clan of red-haired Senju. With your selection as the Fourth Hokage, we knew that Madara had been right all along! That we would never receive the recognition we were owed, that we had earned!"
Minato settled into a ready stance, knowing the battle was inevitable and knowing just how deadly an opponent Fugaku had become. "From a man who had hidden this much strength, and instead of using it for the sake of the village he turned that power against it. You'll have to forgive my lack of sympathy."
"You have no idea what this power cost me," Fugaku spoke quietly, dangerously.
"And after you attacked my family, my village, I don't care. Your ambition ends here."
The battle was as short and intricate as one might expect of two veteran ninja. Minato flashing back and forth across the battlefield, setting up new points to use to ambush the Uchiha. Fugaku taking the Uchiha pyromania to an extreme. He no longer used his hidden technique whose flames still burned long after they should have extinguished for lack of fuel. But that did not diminish the danger of an Uchiha with an extensive repertoire of fire jutsu.
It was no fire that sped the end of the battle, however. Instead, a single moment. As the two men locked eyes, the other speciality of the Uchiha rose to the fore. The ultimate in genjutsu.
Tsukuyomi.
Seconds became hours for Minato. Hours trapped in his own mind, experiencing every horror of Fugaku's imagining. He was given the chance to experience being consumed by the fires of Amaterasu. Being flayed alive. Slowly disembowelled. Each new horror ended with returning to full wellness, only to feel the next nightmare begin.
And through it all, he did not break. That spirit, that fire in his eyes was never extinguished.
So Fugaku got creative.
He showed the Hokage what might have been happening to his wife and son at that very moment. Forcing the man to watch as his wife was violated and mutilated, all the while screaming for him to save her. His infant son's wails as he was carved open.
And then... The perspective shifted. Minato no longer watching the despair of those he loved, instead, he was inflicting it. Hands moving of their own will as he defiled Kushina's body. As he snapped his own child's neck.
In the real, waking world, Fugaku almost collapsed. The fight had taken almost everything he had. But it was enough. He had broken Minato Namikaze. He dragged his feet forward, approaching the blond who had fallen to his knees, eyes vacant. "Goodbye, Fourth Hokage," he breathed, drawing a kunai, no longer sure of having enough chakra to perform a jutsu. "What I do, I do for the good of the village, and of the Uchiha."
With a blinding yellow flash, the fallen Hokage who had previously been feet away, was now only inches away. A pain blossomed in Fugaku's chest, then roared for attention as he felt Minato's kunai drive deep into his heart and twist.
"Your dying words," Minato gasped, seizing the Uchiha's arm, "Should not be a lie."
"..." Fugaku's mouth opened, but he couldn't force out any words, only a confused gurgle. After all of that, all that he had suffered, Minato was still able to fight?! But as much as he was impressed, one should not underestimate an Uchiha's appetite for spite and vengeance. One last time, Fugaku's right eye spun, the dark flames of Amaterasu igniting on the Hokage's body. With only one eye remaining, Fugaku watched the Hokage hold him with shaking hands as the all-consuming flames began to spread from his midsection. Even in the face of what he knew was certain death, Minato still held on to do his duty.
Even in his own dying moments, Fugaku could only hate him for it.
"Lord Hokage!" a voice shouted minutes later, a squad led by Orochimaru finding the two men. He had seen the signs of the battle from below. Whoever the current Hokage had been fighting must have been worthy of note.
"Dear oh dear," the Sannin tutted on seeing Minato's state. "Form a perimeter, fetch the med-nin," he ordered absently, approaching the fallen village leader. He took a moment to examine the Hokage. The flames had done their work superbly. Even if efforts were made to save him, there was no chance. "Fire Sealing Method," he intoned, presenting a seal that drew the flames inside. Not extinguishing them, just moving them. Orochimaru planned to have a great deal of fun studying the properties of the strange technique. "How are you feeling, Lord Hokage?" he asked, sounding only vaguely interested.
The blond coughed, blood staining his charred lips. "I've had better days," he rasped. "The Uzumaki, Kushina, my son, are they–?"
"Squads are moving in now," the snake informed him. "It seems they and the Sarutobi were hit the hardest. Though with the Uzumaki's smaller active ninja population..."
Minato suppressed a laugh for how much it hurt. "You have terrible bedside manner."
"Well a medic nin is on the way."
A spray of acrid blood spewed out of the Hokage's mouth. "I think we both know, that isn't going to matter."
The Sannin remained silent.
"Orochimaru, would you do something for me?"
"Far be it from me to ignore a dying man's last request."
"... Look after the village for me. And... Tell my wife I'm..." His lips moved, but the last word never formed, trailing off as Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage, fell into his final rest.
The Snake Sannin stood from his kneeling position, looking down on the man he had resented for so long. The position of Hokage he had coveted, given to him just for being in the right place at the right time. "Kukukukuku, kukukukuku!" he cackled quietly to himself as the medic approached all too late. Oh what a good day it was!
-(-)-
The dying days of the Second Ninja War.
It had been a war most villages laid directly at Konoha's feet. The instigator of the second conflict that would set all of the great villages and several minor villages at each other's throats for years. And as it slowly drew to a close, it seemed Konoha still remained the strongest among them. Still undaunted by the hostility of the other four, even if that was helped by those others having their own conflicts between them. However, those conflicts were set aside for the sake of dealing Konoha a blow that would be much harder to weather. If they couldn't strike at Konoha, they would band together to destroy their enemy's greatest ally along with their reputation. The operation to destroy Uzushiogakure had been a great success. A vast majority of the famed Uzumaki clan wiped out, a minority captured by the invading ninja.
It was practically a miracle that Konoha got word of the imminent attack on their ally. They had arrived nearly too late, only in time to rescue twenty-six survivors. Those survivors were brought back to Konoha, first as refugees, then as a ratified clan of Konoha years later. Through a legal technicality Kushina Uzumaki, already a resident and licensed ninja of Konoha, became the clan head as only a Genin. Still, with the support of her grieving family, she helped the clan find their feet once again.
The Third Ninja War broke out. Once again the world was filled with the chaos and despair of war and the Uzumaki stood side by side with native Konoha ninja, eager to extract the price of their families' lives in blood. At the closing of the war Minato Namikaze distinguished himself enough that he was selected by the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi to succeed him as he retired. Years passed. The village entered a new age of prosperity under their young and inspiring leader. He married his sweetheart Kushina Uzumaki who bore him a son despite dangerous circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.
Years later, disaster struck. Not from outside, but within. The Uchiha, having long considered themselves unappreciated for their contributions to Konoha, staged an attack in the dead of night. While the great clans of Konoha were distracted with assaults that could not be ignored, two clans in particular were hit harder than any others. The Sarutobi put up a valiant fight to repel the traitors but not before they lost their most famed member, their clan elder Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Uzumaki were not so successful and were hit even harder. Perhaps for wanting to get the current Hokage out in the open, perhaps for resentment over the Uzumaki's distant relation to the Senju. Regardless of the reason, the Uzumaki, nearly wiped out once already, were slaughtered en masse. The only survivors: Kushina Uzumaki and her infant son Naruto. While the Hokage battled and defeated the leader of the coup Fugaku Uchiha, he lost his own life in the battle, naming Orochimaru of the Sannin as the Fifth Hokage in his dying moments.
The judgement of the Uchiha Clan was swift. Many had fallen in their failed coup. Those who survived were each and every one executed. The only ones spared the wrath of a vengeful village were the children too young to have had any contribution or awareness of the clan's actions. Less than a dozen remained, including Fugaku's young sons. It was decreed that the young Uchiha would be monitored in secrecy, on the understanding that while the children could not be blamed for their elders' actions, they could also not be trusted. A desire for vengeance was a poisonous thing and could not be left to fester.
And so remain the last remnants of the Uzumaki Clan. Twice massacred, on the verge of true extinction. A mother and son trying to pick up the pieces of their family. Of their legacy.
-(-)-
"Naruto!" Kushina's call for her son got no response. "Come on, wake up! You don't want to be late for your big day ya know!"
... Still nothing.
"Ugh, why do I bother," she muttered to herself storming towards his room. Opening the door she found it was still dark inside, the blinds closed. Naruto lay sprawled out in bed, one leg hanging off the edge, half his body out of the covers, clad only in his boxers, snoring loudly. Naturally Kushina did what any good mother does in this situation and drew the blinds open with a snap, letting sunlight flood into the room.
"... Really?" she asked in disbelief as he didn't even crack an eye open. "Fine! Don't blame me! This is what you get for being a lazy butt, ya know!" Picking him up in a princess carry, she took him to the washroom, muttering all the while, "Supposed to be a ninja, can't even wake up on such an important day! You're just getting what's coming to you!" Ripping open the washroom door she yanked off his boxers and dumped him onto the stool.
Of course, that was the moment he decided it was time to wake up. "Wha...?"
Splash!
He jumped from his seat in surprise as he was more forcefully woken by a bucket of water getting dumped over his head. He was just as quickly pushed back down. "Gyah! What the–! Ahh! Where–" Frantically, he looked around to see he was in the washroom, his mother looming menacingly over him with a scrubbing brush. "Mom, what the hell?!"
"Because somebody," she said airily, taking the brush to his back, "Decided the day of his graduation exam was the perfect day to sleep in!" Taking a step as she worked at cleaning her stubborn boy, she realised she had soaked the bottom of her dress. "Oh shoot!" With a quick movement she shucked her clothes and tossed them back outside the room.
Naruto didn't take particular notice that his mother just decided to get naked behind him. It wasn't a completely unusual situation for them. They had been very close as he grew up, hiding nothing from one another. After all, all that they had left was each other. Kushina could be a little overbearing, a little smothering at times but he would never blame her for it.
It probably helped this unusual closeness and lack of shyness that when her soft, full breasts pressed against him she didn't make a big deal out of a certain part of him growing, rising. For her part, of course she didn't mention it. It was perfectly natural for a boy his age to get excited around a beautiful woman's naked breasts. And she was after all, a beautiful woman. With amazing breasts!
Uzumaki longevity was a wonderful thing. Despite being well into her thirties, Kushina had the face and body of a woman more than ten years her junior. Perkiness included.
"I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled, "I just got so excited last night I couldn't sleep, ya know?" With his blood flow going the wrong way for proper thought, it took an extra second for realisation to set in. "Wait, the exam! I'm not gonna be late, am I?"
"I didn't wake you up like this for nothing, ya know?" she pointed out, leaning over his shoulder to get at his sensitive bits that were starting to look a little angry. The cleaning morphed in that moment into a full on mom hug. "Ooh, I'm so proud of you! My little man is all grown up about to become a real ninja!"
"Mom! Don't call me little!" he fumed.
She giggled at his wounded pride. "Sorry, sweetie. My big, strong man!" she cooed instead, turning the thing they were both ignoring into a bit of a problem. "I'll leave you to take care of that," she said, both knowing what she meant, "Then I'll come back and we can take a soak together and go over what you know so you're ready for the exam. Sound good?"
"That sounds great! Thanks Mom!" he grinned up at her.
"Be quick, okay? I'll be back in a little bit after I check on breakfast."
He watched her leave, actively not thinking about how he watched her hips sway as she went. She had asked him to be quick. There would be no problem there. He already felt fit to burst as he began stroking himself. He tried to pull his thoughts towards other girls. To Sakura, she was pretty and smart and strangely nice to him. Or Ino who was his academy class' idol. The memories of the way she acted around him added to the pressure in his balls, imagining what her sultry looks might mean for the future. But in the end, imagination and daydreams couldn't compare to the memory of the real woman's naked body so recently pressed up against him. In the end, his seed erupted from his cock as he thought of his own mother's soft breasts wrapped around it.
He breathed just a little harder as he watched his seed wash away down the drain, a feeling of familiar shame. It wasn't the first time he came thinking of his mother in a sexual way. It wouldn't be the last.
He pushed down that shame as he heard her footsteps signalling her return. He turned, seeing her coming through the door. Her long red hair framing her face, cascading down in a silken curtain over her chest. Her voluptuous and fit body, softened somewhat in her semi-retirement. The graceful v-shape between her hips ending in an enticing tuft of scarlet hair hiding what lay beneath.
He felt his urges rising again but did his best to push them back down.
"Are you ready?" she asked, her legs parting slightly, offering a glimpse of something pink hiding just out of sight.
Naruto swallowed. "Yeah." Stiffly, he followed her into the bath, trying to focus on relaxing, on preparing for an important day.
Almost an hour later, Naruto was fully dressed, ready to get to the academy, get his headband and become a real ninja like his parents.
His mother gave him one last hug before he went on his way, a sadness in her eyes almost concealed by the overwhelming pride she felt in her darling boy. "Your father would be so proud of you right now," she said, getting a little choked up.
Naruto pulled her in for another hug, "Thanks, Mom."
"Knock 'em dead, baby," she whispered before pushing him out the door. He grinned and waved back at her as he leapt up to the rooftops.
And so Kushina was left alone. As with most days her son went to the academy, wondering what to do with herself for the day. A wondering swiftly answered when a dog-masked ANBU agent suddenly appeared before her. "Lady Kushina, the Hokage requests your presence."
She frowned heavily at him. "I've told you not to call me that, 'Dog'," she reminded him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, ma'am. You and I have barely spoken."
She stared at her husband's last remaining student hiding behind his ANBU identity. It was frustrating sometimes when he did this. She didn't have many people left she could count on. She didn't like it when one of them forced distance between them, even if it was part of the job. She sighed. "Tell him I'm on my way."
"Understood."
And then he was gone. What did Orochimaru want now, she wondered.