Author's note:

Well, I ended up changing way little than expected. All I did was change a dialogue a little to avoid what seemed like a minor plot hole. More notes at the end of the chapter.

12 Years Ago

Minato Namikaze was afraid. Minato Namikaze, fourth Hokage, the most powerful Ninja of Konoha, who literally had a 'Flee on sight' order against him, was afraid.

He would've liked to think that he was only afraid for his village, his loved ones and friends. But that wouldn't be strictly true. Yes, he feared for his people, but he also feared for his own life. The simple and primal fear every living soul feels.

The source of this fear, of course was the Nine-Tails. A giant fox with nine tails. Which is like saying that the ocean is a big body of water. Accurate, but doesn't describe the true magnificence of it. Just like it couldn't really be described how terrifying the Nine-Tails was. It was said that even the other Tailed Beasts feared it.

So yes, Minato was afraid, and so was everyone else in the village. The Nine-Tails had decided to attack them. Half the village was already in tatters. Hard to believe that it was in perfect shape only few minutes ago. It had to be stopped, and Minato knew just how.

He looked at the destruction caused by the Fox from his window in the Hokage tower, an unreadable expression on his face. Just then, he vanished and teleported in front of a hospital. 'I hope God forgives me for what I'm about to do.' He thought, and then went in.

The hospital, like any other part of Konoha right now, was in complete disarray. People didn't know if I was safer to evacuate the building and go out in open or stay in and hope that the demon fox wouldn't target them.

"The Hokage is here! We're saved!" a running nurse shouted, seeing Minato in the hallway.

Minato shut his eyes hearing that, and sighed. 'It's for the greater good.' He told himself.

"Lord Hokage, you are here to save us all, right?" the nurse said with hope in her eyes. She had very short brown hair, her figure was a bit too thin, her eyes were big and she had a long face.

"Yes." Minato paused, a little uncertainty washed over him. But it was quickly gone just the way it came. "And you are going to help me." The nurse was surprised, but before she could say anything, Minato continued, "Now tell me, are there any newborn babies in the hospital right now? If so, can you please take me to them?"

The nurse was understandably confused, but did as was told and asked him to follow her. They went to the third floor where the maternity ward was.

"What is your name by the way?" Minato asked. Even in this situation, he couldn't help himself but start a mundane conversation.

"Huh? Oh. Suki. Suki Yaan." She answered as they reached the maternity ward and enter. It too, was in chaos. Women were crying, some clutching their babies and some covering their pregnant belly trying to protect their yet to born child. Seeing their Hokage entering the room, everyone's eyes went to Minato, but before anyone could say anything, Minato announced, "Do not worry. Nothing will happen to this village and its people as long as I'm here." More to assure himself than anyone else, then he told Suki in a much lower voice, "Take me to the youngest newborn here."

Suki still confused, nonetheless nodded and told Minato to follow her. They met up with one doctor, and after informing him about Minato's request, he led them to a bed three blocks ahead and pulled the curtains. There, stood a skinny and tall man with a too long blond hair. He was holding the hand of his presumable wife who was sitting up on the bed, holding their baby, whispering, "Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright." She was a little plump, and had short dark black hair. Her head was down, and her eyes were filled with tears, if the voice was any indication.

"These are the Uzumakis." The doctor announced. "Inko and Yagi. And their son… Uh…"

"Naruto." The tall and skinny man, now known to be named Yagi, answered the unasked question.

"Ah, yes. The delivery happened only two hours ago."

Minato cut straight to the chase, "I need your son to save the village." Well, that sounds really weird when you say it like that, thought Minato. And from the expression the Uzumakis gave him, they thought the same.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you just say that you need our son to save the village?" Yagi asked not believing his ears.

"Yes." Minato answers simply, and seriously.

For a few moments everyone just stared at Minato. Finally, Inko broke the silence, "Though I'm not quite sure how my son can help you in any way." She said with confusion and uncertainty, as she held her son Naruto towards the Hokage, "I trust you, Lord Hokage."

Minato was shocked to see this. What, WHAT, did he ever do have blind trust like this? Did he really deserve it?

"Inko! Are you mad? That is our son! How can you just give him up like that?!" Yagi said with a hint of anger and unbelievability.

"Do you trust me?" Inko asked simply.

"Of course. More than life itself."

"Then I'm telling you to trust our Hokage." And like that, the argument was over. Inko gave her son to Minato, who gently picked him up, a white cloth wrapped around him.

"Lord Hokage!" Yagi said a bit louder than he probably intended. Minato looked at him, he is trembling, his eyes almost on the verge of tears and the only thing holding them back is probably the need for him to be stronger for him family. "Don't- Don't let anything happen to him."

"I-" Minato started, but he suddenly he saw something in the window, something big and very very dangerous. Coming fast directly toward the hospital building. It was a Talied-Beast bomb. One of the smaller ones actually.

Minato reacted on instinct, and teleported away to the Hokage tower in the blink of an eye. There was no reason to go back. The whole hospital had just blown up. No survivors. Minato would've liked to mourn, but he did not have time. He had wasted too much to begin with.

He put the baby on the Hokage desk, carefully. He then faced to the large book shelf that was just right to the desk. It was ten feet tall and five feet wide. Minato bent down and tapped his finger seven times at different angles on the very bottom and left corner of the shelf. The sound of something turning and clicking was barely audible as a shallow drawer no more than five inch deep came forward. In there is a single sealing scroll. Minato takes it out and pushed the drawer back in. He went to Naruto and opened the scroll beside him. He saw that Naruto crying. 'Did he just started or was he crying from the start?' Minato couldn't remember. He shook his head as he opened the scroll. There were intricate sealing matrices and numerous strokes and marks in a pattern that somehow looked abstract and symmetrical at the same time. He picked up the scroll and turned it back placing it just a few inches directly above Naruto.

"Seal Transfer Jutsu!", He cries. A faint but visible white light seemed to come out from the seal and hit Naruto, whose body seemingly absorbed it all. After that, the whole sealing design from the scroll appeared on Naruto's body. It disappeared in a few seconds. Minato throws the seal away which was now completely blank.

Just then, the door behind him broke open, and an old man came barging in, showing strength and agility far beyond you would expect from someone his age.

"Minato! I was looking for you! I didn't think you would be here, but I came here anyway just to make sure. What are you still doing here? Everyone is-" He stopped as he saw a newborn baby in Minato's arm. Then he slowly asked, "What are you doing?"

Minato without looking back, replied, "What needs to be done" He turns his head just a little. "I'm sorry Sarutobi sensei, but I do not see any other way to stop the Nine-Tails."

Hiruzen was silent. Understanding dawning on his face. "How did you come up with that in just a few minutes? Even for you that seems impossible." He asked.

"Minutes? I was working on this for almost four years. Finished just two months ago." There was a hint of smile on his face. Then he turned his head again, seemingly preparing for something, like a jump or a running start, but not quite. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Son of Yagi and Inko Uzumaki. That is all I know." Just then he vanished into thin air.

Minato appeared besides a random house in the street. He had marks of his Hiraishin all over the village, which was very helpful in a situation like this. He could see the Nine-Tailed Fox a dozen or so meters away from him, its back turned to him. The fox had not noticed him. Good, he still had a little luck left. This would be much harder if he had appeared in front of it.

He pulled out a three-headed Kunai from his back pouch. Apart from the unusual feature of having three heads, it also had paper wrapped around it and some sealing pattern drawn, it was also larger than the average Kunai.

Minato threw the Kunai as silently as possible aiming to the Fox's head. It was very fast, way faster than the speed of sound. Just as it was about to hit the Fox's head, Minato appeared besides it, landing softly on the Nine-Tails' head and grabbing the Kunai. The Fox either hadn't noticed them yet or had, but was ignoring them thinking they pose no risk to it. Whatever it was, Minato wasn't going to question his luck right now.

Minato bent down, then gently put Naruto on the Fox's head. The fur is so thick and tall that it seemed to almost drown the newborn baby. Minato put his right hand on Naruto's stomach and his left hand on the Fox, and then closed his eyes. The familiar seals on Naruto's body appeared again and they started glowing with white light. Then, the white light started turning into red, and Minato's face turned into a grimace.

It is that moment that the Nine-Tails noticed something. It stopped dead in its tracks.

"What is it?" it asked itself in confusion, and then the realization hit, its eyes going wide. "NO!" It tried to grab the thing from its head, but it was already too late.

The Nine-Tails could not seem to move any limbs or any part of its body whatsoever. Not only that but it also started shrinking in size.

Minato's whole body was trembling. It was taking all his will to keep the process going. 'Just a little. Just a little more. And then it'll be over.'

As the Fox shrinked more and more, Minato and Naruto came closer and closer to the ground, until finally, the Fox disappeared completely, leaving them on the soft and damp ground of the Fox's giant footprint. The seals on Naruto's body became a very dark shade of red before dimming and then the light disappeared, only black sealing marks left. And in a few seconds, they too disappeared. However, on Naruto's face were now three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

Minato fell down face first on right side of Naruto, his right hand still on his stomach, no life left in him.

8 Years Ago

"I. AM. NOT DONE YET!" screamed a boy of age four, possessing spiky dark blond hair, and three thin whisker-like marks on each cheek. Which weren't quite visible in this particular instance as pretty much all of his face was covered in mud, and also some blood. He was on one knee, breathing heavily and coughing a little. Then, he tried to stand up, stumbled, then tried again, and successfully got up on his two feet.

"This kid is crazy. My mum was right. We should just keep away from him. Let's go." Said a boy of age six or seven, gesturing to two more boys of similar age. They walked back from Naruto and went their way. One boy was caressing his jaw, one was keeping a handkerchief on a scratch on his elbow. And the boy who had announced their retreat was bent down a little holding his belly while walking.

"Oh, you are hurt so much!" came a voice from behind Naruto. A girl around the same age as Naruto with dark blue hair came close to him to examine his injuries.

"Nah, I'm fine." Naruto said with a huge grin on his face, completely ignorant of the fact that his teeth were covered in blood and his upper lip was swollen. The girl took out a red handkerchief from her pocket and started rubbing off the dirt and blood from his face.

"Why did you do that?" she asked. Naruto now saw the girl properly. He didn't have time to look at her at leisure like this because he was too busy trying to beat the three boys that were bullying her and getting the crap beaten out of him for it. The girl was, truly, the cutest thing he had ever seen in his four years of life. Especially her eyes. Which had huge white, with a hint of purple, iris but no pupil. After staring at her for a few seconds, he realized that she had asked him something.

"Do what?" he questioned in return.

"Going against those boys. They were bigger than you, and they weren't after you anyway."

"Well, I don't really know. But I saw you in trouble. And I just had to do something."

'Hinata Hyuga, Where are your manners?! Someone helps you and this is how you treat them? What will father say?' she thought to herself, and then told Naruto, "I'm sorry that you had to endure this trouble because of me. Thank you for helping me." She bowed as she said this.

"Ok…" Naruto said a little confused because he had never met a kid who talked like this. Bowing? Really? Though, he found it weird, he liked the girl and her mannerisms anyway. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Hey, would you be my friend?" Naruto had a habit of introducing himself and then straight up asking the person to be his friend. No one had said yes yet.

'Someone just asked me to be their friend. And that someone just took a beating from three boys bigger than him. Yes, of course I would like to be friend with that person. But first, I need to introduce myself. Manners are important, as father says.'

But before she could say anything, a voice called for her.

"Lady Hinata, there you are!" a middle-aged man with similar eyes to Hinata and in a very traditional Japanese clothing said. "I understand you requested to wander around on your own, and I agreed, but I think has been enough time, if your father came to know tha-" he stopped his rambling as he looked at the boy and the situation. He quickly shoved Naruto away harshly and kept Hinata closer to him.

"Lady Hinata, are you hurt? Hey boy! If you have hurt her in any way, it will not end good for you." He said in a threatening voice. Naruto was holding his stomach where he was hit, barely being able to sit as he was already injured beforehand.

"NO! Stop it. He didn't hurt me. He saved me." Said Hinata in a much louder voice than her usual. Which surprised the adult Hyuga, as he had never heard Lady Hinata talk in such a way.

"Hmm." he mused "We should go home anyway." He took Hinata's hand and led her to her home presumably. He also threw her handkerchief away seeing how dirty it had gotten. All Hinata could do was just keep looking back until Naruto was no more in sight.

Naruto got up with difficulty and picked up the dirty handkerchief.

"What kind of rude person throws away someone's stuff? I will keep this, clean it up, and give it back to the girl when I meet her again. What was name again? Dammit! I didn't even ask."

Suddenly, Naruto felt a sharp pain in the back of the head and immediately passed out.

"So let me get this straight. You attacked the Nine-Tails container, in hopes to unleash a little bit of Nine-Tails, so that my eyes can finally be opened and I see just how dangerous the Jinchuriki is, and then lock him up for the rest of his life. Is that it?" asked Sarutobi, the current Hokage.

"Yes." Said the man who was asked this question. Who was an ANBU no less, though a newbie. His answer was completely serious and genuine. It would be an understatement to say that Hiruzen was angry.

"You do know the difference between a Jinchuriki and the actual Tailed-Beast, right?" Hiruzen asked slowly.

"Yes, I do. And I also know that Jinchurikis aren't perfect containers for Tailed-Beasts. There have been multiple instances of a Jinchuriki losing control. Are we really just going to wait for it to happen? I think we should never let the kid be in open. I know he's not the Nine-Tails, but he contains it, and it's dangerous. I'm just choosing to sacrifice one kid's life for the sake of the whole village. Isn't that what the fourth Hokage did?"

"How dare you compare yourself to the fourth? Why am I even entertaining you? Get this man out of my sight." Two of the three ANBUs that were present took the guy and quickly disappeared.

Hiruzen sighed, his age showing on his face.

"How is he?"

"No permanent damage. But he will be in the hospital for a few days." Answered the remaining ANBU who had a dog mask and white hair.

"Any effect from the Nine-Tails?"

"Not one bit."

"It really hasn't changed his body in any way, hasn't it? Apart from the whisker marks."

"And no special powers either, which all the other Jinchurikis seems to have, from all the intel we have. All Naruto has is huge Chakra reserves, which is to be expected from a Jinchuriki."

"Minato's seal is really something else. If I didn't know already, it'd be hard for me to believe that Naruto was a Jinchuriki. Is the Nine-Tails really not influencing him at all?"

"Well…"

"Well?" Hiruzen said with worry.

"Naruto has mentioned having nightmares to doctors whenever asked if something was wrong. Too many times for them to be just nightmares."

"But I've always seen him just happy-go-lucky."

"Yes. Which makes it more concerning."

Hiruzen nods. Did all the Jinchurikis had this trouble? Who knows, it's not like the other villages would be willing to share these types of information. All Konoha had was to rely on the common knowledge already acquired, some theories and rest just plain assumptions.

"I'm still surprised that not even a little bit of Nine-Tails Chakra leaked. Isn't it common for it to leak in dangerous and life threatening situations? Even if the Tailed-Beast is unwilling, which it always is." Hiruzen mused.

"From what Jiraiya sensei seems to understand from studying the seal. It seems that unless Naruto is on the verge of dying, as in really really dying, Nine-Tails Chakra won't leak or help him in any way. From what little I could hear in the hospital wing, that is."

"Hmm. Send Jiraiya after he gets done."

"As you say, Lord Hokage." Said the ANBU as he disappeared.

Author's notes:

Now, let's answer the most obvious question and doubt everyone who has been reading fanfiction have when starting a new story. Will I finish this? And the answer is... I. Do. Not. Know. All I can promise is that I will write it as long as its fun to write. The moment it becomes more of a chore than fun, it will end. And no amount of requests(Ha! assuming that people would want to read a new story by a complete novice """"writer"""") would change my mind.

The frequency of chapter updates? No clue. Depends on my time, seeing that I have a job(yes, I do), and well... as I said, how fun it is to write this story than doing other fun stuff.

That's the general things. Now on to what kind of story its going to be:

-Some people will be stronger and some will be weaker than in canon. If you don't like your favourite character not as strong as canon or vice versa, sorry.

-Some jutsus will work differently than canon. Don't comment just say how this and that jutsu doesn't work like that. Most likely I would be aware. Point out if you find inconsistency in MY story.

-Some of the mythology and powers will be different. And some will be outright removed. And I'm going to name main ones that I'm going to remove right here. So you can decide if you still want to read this story. Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya, Chakra Tree, The Zetsu. These do not exist in my fic.

-Rinnegan won't have anything to do with Sharingan. Mangekyu Sharingan does not exist.

-As mentioned in the summery, but I will repeat again. THE UCHIHAS WILL ONLY BE SIDE CHARACTERS. They won't even be one of the important supporting characters. And Naruto is not going to have any obsession, or friendship, or rivalry, or anything with Sasuke. Don't think there will be Uchiha bashing though.