Welcome to Naruto: Spiritual War everyone. Looking forward to getting into this story and getting to build out this world. I have some additional information in my bio, but I'm not going to keep my cards close to my chest when it comes to the direction and nature of this story. I will say this will be a massive AU, so if you want to complain that some of the rules and history of Naruto have changed you're gonna have to kick rocks. Now, let's kick this thing off.

Disclaimer: I always see these things in people's stories. They have to be fake, right? Nobody is actually getting into trouble for not putting a disclaimer that they aren't in fact the owner of incredibly famous titles. Anyways, for tradition's sake, I own nothing in this story.


To Minato, the smell of chemicals was becoming oppressive. He knew hours of backbreaking work had been put into turning this hideout in the depths of Konoha's mountains into a functioning hospital room for his wife's labor, but he wondered if they had needed to recreate the entire experience of being in a hospital. Staring at these white-washed walls and smelling these heavy chemicals was doing no favor for his nerves, as he continued to pace waiting for news of his son's birth. He knew how strong his wife was, and she had the experienced hands of Lord Third's wife taking care of her, but it was impossible for him not to feel some level of anxiety, which he chalked up to the dormant fatherly instincts within him that were about to break through to the surface.

A pained moan from within the other room broke him from his worrying, and he now wished he would have taken the time to put up some sound-proofing seals during his final inspection of the room. Most of the sound from the room did not escape from it, but the loudest of Kushina's cries had been escaping periodically. Hearing his wife in pain was not something he was interested in, even though he knew that this was a part of any birth. Still, he mused, hearing the cries of pain was certainly a more enjoyable experience than pushing a human being outside of his own body. Some irrational part of his brain also niggled at his conscious, planting insidious thoughts of the pregnancy going wrong, of the seal breaking, of his son not being in good health, but once again he chalked this up to those emerging instincts. He hoped this wasn't going to be a staple of fatherhood, he already had enough to worry about running a village, and knowing who his wife is he was sure that he would be raising a human tornado in the near future. That would be enough stress without having to deal with irrational worries.

Human maelstrom, though, not tornado, he corrected himself with a mental laugh. After all, if Naruto was going to be any sort of natural disaster it would be most appropriate for it to be his namesake. The creak of the door to his wife's birthing chamber diverted broke this train of thought, and Minato turned to look at the worn face of Biwako's assistant. Understandable, since Naruto's birth had been a long one, and knowing the Uzumaki spirit it had been a fight from start to finish. Still, the gleam in the young woman's brown eyes could not be missed, nor could the slight upturn of her mouth, and he felt joy begin to bloom in his chest. She began speaking once she saw his attention was on her, "Lord Hokage, I believe congratulations are in order. Everything went fine, and Lady Kushina is resting inside with your son. You are a father, sir." She smiled as she said this, "He is quite the young boy Lord Hokage, I don't believe I've ever felt such a strong grip from an infant before."

Everything inside of Minato screamed at him to rush past this young woman to see his wife and son, but discipline born from years of being a soldier and leader of one of the world's greatest powers had him remember his decorum. He opened his mouth to reply but something must have tipped her off to his desires for she spoke before he could, "Lord Hokage, would you like to see your son." After speaking, she then moved to the side, leaving the door to the room wide open. All of his willpower broke then, and he rushed past her thanking her gratefully. As he entered the room, he noted Biwako standing at the far end of the room at a table laden with medical tools, nestled in between some devices he did not the purpose of. Still, this quick survey only lasted for a split second, as his attention immediately turned to the sight of his wife lying on the bed in the center of the room.

Her crimson hair was splayed out behind her head, and he could see a sheen of sweat covering her pale skin. Despite this, a massive smile adorned her face as their eyes met and he saw a radiance in her violet eyes that communicated her happiness in a way her smile couldn't. Minato had always thought his wife was beautiful, but at that moment, he thought she was a divine being, and a love he thought could not grow deeper was given a depth he couldn't understand. This was his wife and the mother of his son. A woman who had given him the best moments of his life, and now had given him his life's greatest treasure. She broke his thoughts with a tinkering laugh twinged with exhaustion. He then realized he must have been standing there gaping like the village idiot at her. He forced his legs to move and began covering the distance between them, with his legs feeling like jelly. As he approached, he caught a glimpse of angry red skin swaddled between the blanket in his wife's arms and he could feel his heart begin beating faster. Arriving at the bedside, he spoke for the first time since entering the room, "You look tired, how are you feeling?" Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Do men always feel the need to ask a silly question after their wife gives birth? I am tired my love, but I have never been better. Now hush my love and hold your son." Having finished speaking, she held out the bundle of blankets, taking care to hold where he knew his son's head must lie within all of the cloth. With reverence, he reached out and took hold of his wife's offering. He couldn't tell if he thought his son was surprisingly light or surprisingly heavy. He could tell, though, that his son was the most amazing sight he had ever seen. Like lightning, Naruto instantly became the most important thing in the world to him. He offered a finger to him, and his tiny fingers gripped them tightly bringing a watery smile to his face. His face, still the angry red of a newborn smiled up at him as joyous noises gurgled up at him. His eyes, still murky and not yet the color they would be stared up at him as if soaking memorizing every detail of his face like he was doing to his son. Minato was surprised at the strength of the love he felt for his son already. He was known as a genius for a reason, and intellectually he knew that he would love his son with all of his heart, but this went beyond human intellect. This came from the animal part of his existence, from instincts that predated ninja civilization, that told him he would lay down his life for this tiny boy without hesitation.

He sat on the bed next to his wife and began speaking excitedly, "He's incredible, Kushina. I wonder which of us he'll look like. Do you see how his eyes look a little different from each other? I wonder if that will mean anything. And did you feel his grip Kushina, this boy is going to be a strong shinobi! I wonder what type of elemental release he'll have." Her laughter broke him from his rambling, and he turned to look at her, "You have never looked more beautiful in your life than you do right now." This elicited another laugh from her, "I am covered in sweat, my hair is a mess, and I must look exhausted. I should take offense that you think this is the best I can look." Her smile let him know how much offense she was taking, "Something tells me you know what I meant." She didn't reply, but the smile still plastered on her face was all the answer he needed. Shifting himself, he moved to lay on the bed with Naruto held in between the two of them. No words were exchanged as they played small games and cooed at him, delighting in the joy of meeting their son at long last. Minato had never felt such a deep feeling of comfort in his life, and he hoped this moment could last forever.

After some time, he handed Naruto to Kushina and moved to give up. He spoke to Kushina, "I'm going to inform the guards of the news and have them send a message to the village. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled at the news." He heard her give an affirmation as he reached the threshold of the room. As he left, he made sure to tap the doorframe with his hand, leaving an intricate marking where his hand had touched. After a brief walk through the hideout, he emerged into the woods surrounding their location. Immediately the humidity that the Land of Fire was known for rushed at him, covering his skin in a warm second layer. Trees, reaching towards the sky and covered in leaves the color of a setting sun began in a semi-circle surrounding the entrance to their hideout. From within them, Minato could hear the familiar sounds of the forest. Birds chirping their musical notes, frogs croaking at a pond Minato knew was nearby, and if he strained his ears, he could hear more clearly the skittering of small mammals over fallen leaves. Still, the familiarity of an autumn night in Konoha did nothing to prevent the icy sensation of something being wrong that gripped him.

As Hokage, Minato prided himself on the skill and discipline of his shinobi. The Village Hidden in the Leaves possessed the strongest military force in the history of the Elemental Nations and could be counted on to follow orders exactly as they were given. Even the greenest of genin understood this, and the entirety of Konoha's military force had incredible discipline. Chief among them were the ANBU black ops, his elite of the elite. Their discipline, forged through torturous training, was legendary and the creation of the force had almost singlehandedly turned the tides of the Second Shinobi War. The ANBU were talked about as the bogeymen of the world by other militaries, their counterparts that had been created following the unveiling of their effectiveness merely poor imitations compared to the skill of the originals. The ANBU were almost as feared as himself across the world. The same ANBU that was given the assignment of guard duty for the birth of his son. The same ANBU that were given explicit orders to station two guards at the entrance at all times. The same ANBU that was nowhere to be found.

Reaching into his pocket, Minato quickly pulled out a small slip of paper and channeled some chakra into it. A sealing matrix sprung into existence on the paper, but Minato felt no response touch his chakra network. With a cold realization, he knew the ANBU given this assignment was either dead or unconscious. That was the only explanation why they would not respond to the signal sent from this paper sent to their tattoos, keyed by a special fuinjutsu of his creation. Minato knew there could be only two potential targets for whoever had taken his black ops out of commission, and with little more than a thought, he activated the seal left behind on the doorframe and popped out of existence.

Reemerging instantly, he quickly darted his eyes around the room to take in the situation. Lying on the bed, his wife lay wrapped in chains shouting furiously. It did not take much time to realize what exactly had garnered her fury. At the far edge of the room, where Biwako had been located only fifteen minutes before, a tall man in dark clothes sat on the edge of a table looking down at his son with his feet resting on what Minato could only assume was Biwako's dead body given the amount of blood steadily creeping across the floor. Minato realized he had not seen Biwako's assistant during his cursory sweep upon his entrance, and quickly surveyed the room again. Anger flooded him as he noticed her body slumped behind his wife's table, partially obscured by the bulk of the chains wrapped around Kushina. In his long years as a soldier, Minato had learned to tell by eyesight when a person had lost enough blood to know they were dead. The poor girl was sat in a puddle almost double that amount.

The righteous anger he felt as a Hokage seeing two of his citizens dead did not cause him to react irrationally, however. He knew that there was still too much to be lost from making such a mistake, and now knowing the danger of his enemy he set his eyes back on his form. This time, instead of a black hood he stared into the empty eyes of a white porcelain mask adorned with dark patterns. From within the mask, a voice spoke with his finger tickling Naruto in a twisted mockery of Minato's same action only minutes before, "Hello Lord Hokage, how was the weather outside. It's a bit muggy, but it's always nice to feel the weather of home again."

Minato responded, "It does not matter who you are or where you're from, but you have committed grave sins against the Village Hidden in the Leaves tonight. It will only be worse for you if you do not release my wife and return my son."

This seemed to only serve as amusement for the man who responded with laughter before speaking, "Do you mean this little boy? Don't worry, none of my plans tonight involve hurting this one. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a sucker for cute little kids. I just can't help myself from wanting to play with them and make them laugh. I'll even show you my favorite game so you can play it whenever you want, it's called up!" With another peal of laugher, the figure dropped his arms below his waist before violently flinging them up, sending Naruto soaring towards the ceiling accompanied by a scream of terror from Kushina.

Minato instantly knew the man's target was Kushina's weakened seal and cursed himself for not having done anything to strengthen it after she had given birth, but it had not been in danger of collapsing and he had been too lost in enjoying the moment with his new family. There was nothing to be done about it now though, and he resolved to prevent disaster from happening and fix his mistake. With inhuman speed, Minato burst into action flinging a tri-pronged kunai next to Naruto's flying body and teleporting instantly. Catching his son, the faint sound of sizzling raised alarms in his head, and with one fluid motion, he flung the blanket covering his son as far as he could before turning to glimpse his wife being sucked into some swirling distortion of space along with the mysterious figure. All of this occurred in the span of a couple of seconds, and knowing what he had to do, Minato teleported him and Naruto to a second hideout to the sound of the blanket detonating.

The two appeared in an empty room, painted white with only a closet and bed giving it any sense of inhabitance. The silence of their location was quickly shattered by Naruto's wailing, as the action of the past minute had disturbed the newborn's peace. Softly shushing him, Minato went to work on settling him down so he could set him on the bed. It took a precious minute, but eventually, he succeeded before making his way over to the bed and laying Naruto softly on it. He then spoke to his son, "Thank you little one, I know this isn't the nicest way to be brought into the world, but I appreciate your help. Your dad is going to go get mom and make things right. I'm sorry to leave you here but I'm going to be right back." His son only made some small noises back, but just the sight of him safe was enough to elicit a smile from Minato and ease the knot in his heart a tiny bit.

Minato then felt for the seal attached to his wife. After finding it, he teleported himself to its location, arriving once again in Konoha's forest. In front of him was his wife's suspended form attached by chains to a wooden cross. At the moment of his arrival, the man from before finished a set of hand signs obscured from Minato's vision and slammed his hand into his wife's stomach where her seal was located. Knowing what was about to happen, Minato launched a kunai at the back of the man's head as a deluge of potent chakra erupted from his wife, visible to the naked eye. The chakra swirled upwards heading behind them into the forest. Simultaneously, his thrown kunai phased through the man's head leaving no damage and piercing just below his wife's feet. Minato mentally noted the new power, springing back into action with a wind jutsu intended to rip up earth and force the man away from his wife without piercing her skin. It did not have its intended effect, appearing to do nothing except pass through him. Turning towards him, the man merely cocked his head. Minato noticed a faint red gleam come from within the mask for the first time. In all likelihood, this meant Minato was dealing with a Sharingan, a Mangekyo at that if his intel on the Uchiha's dojutsu was correct.

This complicated things tremendously. Not many Uchiha had ever possessed the second stage of the Sharingan, and the secrets of those few who had were guarded zealously by the clan as a whole. All that was known is that the second stage gave its users tremendous powers, which could vary from user to user. Minato could only assume the swirling vortex and intangibility came from this Uchiha's eye, although this did not guarantee that this was the limit of the power it gave. Still, any intel was good intel for him, even if the reality that he was likely dealing with an Uchiha was incredibly alarming. Minato would just have to capture him and get to the bottom of this after tending to his wife.

Preparing for battle, he coiled the muscles in his feet preparing himself to begin testing the limits of the masked man's power before being caught off guard by the appearance of the swirling vortex that had taken his wife. This time, with a clear view of it, Minato could see that the vortex began at the man's eye. It then began to spread, encompassing his entire body before pulling his body into it and collapsing upon itself leaving nothing but empty space in the blink of an eye. This confirmed he was dealing with a Sharingan user, but now the man was on the loose. He then realized that the chakra that had left his wife's body was solidifying in the distance over visible over the top of the trees surrounding him. His vantage was limited, but Minato could see the legs of the Kyuubi poking past the trees and chakra coalescing into what he was sure would become the beast's torso. This was bad, very very bad. A tailed beast so close to the village proper was a massive disaster, and even worse there was an Uchiha of unknown allegiance and power orchestrating the whole thing.

He could only do one thing at a time though, and the first priority was making sure his wife was alive. Releasing her from the cross, he first checked her vitals to see that she was alive. Noting that she was, he then moved to apply basic first aid to stymy the blood loss and path her wounds to the best of his abilities. While doing this he allowed his mind to address the situation. Rapidly, he sifted through various solutions to the problem. If things were easy, he would possess the Sharingan or the First Hokage's famed wood release to tame the monster, but for all his power he did not possess any Kekkei Genkai to speak of. He had always liked it this way, forcing himself to grow through his own intellect and skill, but right now he would have paid an arm and a leg to have them. There was nothing to be done for that, so he turned to what he knew best: sealing.

Minato knew of several sealing solutions that were designed for the tailed beasts, but unfortunately, he was dealing with the king of them. The Kyuubi no Yoko was beyond a regular tailed-beast, it possessed power, intellect, and malevolence beyond its brethren and could only be contained with the strongest of seals. Even Kushina's seal, designed by the foremost Uzumaki fuinjutsu practitioners of the time, had failed in the end. Knowing this, Minato landed on only one seal suitable for the job, and only one real candidate for who it could be sealed. It was not a kind fate he was about to give his son, especially since it would cost his father, but he could only hope that his wife would make it through the night to help guide him along the path she had walked herself.

Finishing his basic first aid Minato teleported himself and Kushina to the hideout with Naruto, where he laid her next to her son. Immediately, she moved to cradle him, blood still flowing from her destroyed seal and steadily staining the bedsheets red. With nothing he could do here, Minato went to the closet in the room and opened it, revealing his signature cloak and a store of important shinobi tools and equipment.

Donning the cloak, he moved to grab a roll of his tri-prong kunai when malevolence swallowed all of his senses and Naruto erupted in a fresh set of cries. The Kyuubi's might was fully unleashed now, and judging by the feel of its oppressive chakra it was much closer to their hideout located inside of the village than it should be. Minato cursed this mysterious figure who had come in and turned the greatest night of his life into one of the worst. Grabbing the kunai, he made for Naruto and his wife one last time kissing them on their foreheads before popping out of existence with a muttered apology.

Minato materialized out of nothingness on top of the Hokage's mountain to the worst sight of his entire life. The wind blew softly from the forest just behind him and ruffled his cloak, the only movement coming from his form as he stared down at his beloved village. Below him Konoha burned as the Kyuubi no Yoko stood roaring with an earth-shaking fury in its midst. Minato had no idea how the beast had appeared here; he should have felt it cross into Konoha through the seals situated outside of the village proper. The fact that he had received no such warning but had not felt his wife's chakra in the village before likely meant it had been teleported through the same mysterious jutsu that had taken his wife, which was an alarming possibility. None of that mattered now, however, as he looked at the wreckage that his village was becoming.

Some of his Shinobi attempted to fight back against the beast, but it served no use. Fire jutsu splashed against its fur to no effect, spears of rock broke apart against its snout, dragons of water sizzled out of the second they touched its fur as the beast continued deeper into the village. In its wake, Minato saw collapsed houses, shops, and corpses. So many corpses. He had always had fantastic eyesight, even for a shinobi, but now he almost wished he was blind as he saw a half of a young girl's body lying on the edge of a footprint left by the monster, entrails peaking out bloodily from her torso. Nearby, what must have been her brother and mother could barely be seen poking out from the rubble of a destroyed building. There were too many sights like this for Minato to focus on, and he knew he would grieve for each, and every life lost after this was all done.

By the time he had finished taking in this sight, the Kyuubi had noticed his presence atop the Hokage mountain and roared a challenge. Minato now had a clear look at its face, and he could see swirling black tomoe in a sea of red unmistakably marking the Kyuubi as being under the control of the masked figure. The beast finished its roar but kept its mouth open, and Minato watched as chakra began spiraling towards a central point within its gaping maw. Black, purple, and red coalescing into the densest feeling of chakra he had ever witnessed. Minato had read about this attack before, a Bijudaama as it had been named, and knew that if it was released and impacted the mountain it would leave very little of the village behind. But he had had enough of the death and misery tonight, so he would not let that happen. Hands clasping together, he ran through a set of seals right as the Kyuubi closed its mouth over the completed Bijudaama. In the next moment, the fox opened its mouth and released the ball of deadly chakra at incredible speeds right to where Minato was located. Finishing his set of signs, a massive set of seals began etching themselves in the very air in front of him. On impact, the potent chakra seemed to push the seals back, as though it was about to burst through the invisible barrier, before being sucked into them and disappearing. Then, from a distance, a deafening boom was heard, and Minato had to apply chakra to his feet to keep his balance as the world shook.

His actions had also seemed to have revitalized Konoha's forces and seeing their Yondaime was here to aid in the defenses caused his men to redouble attacks. Aiding this was the Third Hokage, who had arrived at the battle resplendent in his black battle gear with his longtime summon Enma in battle staff form. The duo launched into the offensive after the Kyuubi's attack, with the Third giving a mighty swing of the rapidly expanding staff into the fox's jaw, staggering the beast for the first time the night. Not allowing the opportunity to be missed, the remaining shinobi piled onto the beast with another wave of jutsu, this time seeking to bind or incapacitate the monster. Rocky prisons worked to capture its feet, while lances of fire targeted its eyes, and ropes of water with electricity visible to the naked eye coursed through it attempting to wrangle its tails.

As all of this took place, Minato moved to aid in this battle knowing how futile these efforts ultimately would be, darting towards the edge of the Hokage mountain with his arm reaching for a kunai to throw. Before he could get there, the edges of his mind prickled and his honed battle senses led to him tilting his head to the side as he felt a tickle of displaced air touch his cheek, informing him that he had narrowly avoided a thrown kunai. Turning, he knew there was only one man who would be up here at this time.

"Hello again, Lord Hokage, funny meeting you up here. It's been a while hasn't it," said the masked man, his tone mocking him. "I might be mistaken, but were you about to interrupt my furry friend's work? I'm sorry but I can't have that."

Minato didn't rise to the bait, nor did he bother replying to his opponents' taunts. Instead, he sprung into action closing the distance between the two in a blink. A kunai found its way into his hand, and he lashed out with a quick slash at the man's torso. Similar to their previous encounter, his knife ran through the man's body as if it didn't exist. He noted that there was no resistance at all as if the man was made of the air itself. He followed up his first strike with several more, a straight jab from his offhand followed by a knee and then a spinning kick which the man-made no attempt to block as each strike passed through him.

With his back turned following his kick, alarms sounded in his mind, and he dropped to a knee feeling a rush of displaced air where his head had been moments before and the rattling of a chain. Springing from his stance, Minato jumped to put some space between the two and reassess the situation. He was given no such reprieve, as the second his feet touched the ground he was forced on the defensive by the man swinging a chain that he must have unsealed when Minato's back was turned. His opponent found no success though, as even without the power of intangibility Minato might as well have been a ghost as he danced in and out of the chain's sweeping attacks avoiding each attack by the bare minimum.

Not wanting to be kept on his backfoot, Minato sought to turn the current pace, and a spiraling ball of incredibly dense chakra sprung into the hand not occupied by his tri-prong kunai. When his opponent's chain swung back again, he was ready, jumping over it and thrusting his Rasengan down. A mighty screech disturbed the forest, as his Rasengan shattered the chain cutting the weapon's reach by more than half. His opponent was not caught off guard and used the time it took for Minato to land to close the distance between the two while simultaneously withdrawing his chain and drawing a short blade. Minato landed and closed the distance between the two instantly, exchanging a series of rapid clashes in the span of a second. Minato noted his ability to touch the man's weapon and was determined to test the limits of his foe's intangibility. When his opponent went in for his next strike, Minato felt for his nearest marker within the forest before disappearing from the exchange.

He reappeared in a similar forest clearing, and surveyed his new environment, noting the nearby stream and lack of low shrubbery, filing it away for potential use later. He then began to theorize about this mystery jutsu. The most important information he had been able to collect was his ability to clash blades. More importantly, the man had held nothing in his hands every time he had attacks phase through him. To Minato, this suggested two possibilities: the man could control which individual parts were intangible or he could only be intangible if he didn't want to touch anything. If it was the former, it would make this fight much harder, if not impossible, but if it was the latter then this was now a battle of who could hit faster. Minato was not called the Yellow Flash for no reason, and he always favored himself in such fights. If his opponent wanted confirmation of this, he could simply ask the Fourth Raikage.

Across from him in the clearing, a tear in space brought him from his impromptu strategy, and he readied himself for battle once again as the man emerged from the now-familiar vortex. Giving him no time to think, Minato was on him as the last portion of his body was emerging from the jutsu, lashing out with a slash that went clean through his body yet left no damage. In response, the masked man went through hand signs for the first time tonight before blasting a ball of fire that forced Minato to put some distance between the two. His opponent's voice rang out through the clearing, "I'm disappointed Lord Fourth, did you think that the fiftieth attempt was going to prove any more fruitful than the first? Is this all that the famed Yellow Flash is capable of?"

Minato now knew one thing with certainty in this fight. His opponent was arrogant, too arrogant. Using the fire to obscure his vision and taunting him for a rise that would cause him to lose his composure. This was the behavior of a man fighting a genin, not the strongest shinobi walking the face of the planet. But Minato would not give away the game, and so he waited patiently staring as the ball of fire dissipated with a look of intense concentration as though he believed his opponent way beyond it. As the fire dwindled right to the point where in the next moment his opponent would be visible, he felt the tips of fingers touch the sides of his neck and twisted instantly, seeing the masked figure's body emerging suspended above his head. The fingers touching his neck turned into a hand, and the grip tightened before Minato lashed out with a hand aimed for the hair poking out of the porcelain mask. With the grip around his neck secured, a short blade was suddenly racing toward's his face. By the time it reached it, Minato was standing at the same spot he had initially teleported to upon entering the clearing.

His opponent didn't realize it yet, but he had lost. Minato watched him land with the grace of a trained Shinobi before the two stared at each other with only fifty feet of grass separating them. Their previous exchange had only lasted a couple of seconds, but Minato had gotten everything needed from it. At the last second, before he had flashed to his marker, Minato had felt this mysterious Sharingan user's hair. Hair that was connected to his body. With that information, he had what he needed to confirm his previous theory. The man could not touch him without becoming tangible himself. Minato had confirmed this would be a battle of speed. His opponent had lost.

The stare down ended abruptly, and both combatants dashed at each other. Within a second, Minato could see a red Sharingan gazing out at him before he flung one of his kunai harmlessly through the mask it peered out from. Instantly, his opponent's blade was before him, once again only an inch from his forehead. Too slow. Right before the blade would have broken his skin and pierced his brain, Minato was above his opponent, one hand grasping the knife he'd just thrown and the other cradling a pulsing Rasengan. Slamming it the man's back, Minato drove him into the ground with all of his might. He reveled in the feeling of the Rasengan making solid purchase and the spray of cracked earth flying past his head from the force of the impact.

Not losing this opportunity, he allowed the Rasengan to dissipate before placing a Hiraishin seal on the skin his attack had exposed. His feet touched the ground, but he was prevented from further attack by the masked man's body disappearing and a soft splash of water a split second later from the nearby stream. Following the sound, Minato could see that his attack had in fact made contact for the first time tonight. The man's mask was undamaged, but that was about the only thing left untouched from the Rasengan's devastation. White sludge dripped from the shredded sleeve of his left arm, a sickly-looking substance that Minato could not discern immediately. Heaving shoulders belied how much his last attack had hurt, and even though he couldn't see the man's back Minato could see blood leaking from it and staining the water below red. Despite all of this, it had apparently not done enough to quiet the enemy ninja who began speaking in pants

"You have my apologi-."

Minato gave him no opportunity to finish his sentence, teleporting to the marker left on his body and slamming a devastating chakra enhanced punch into his gut. He didn't relent, slamming his palm into the man's chest where a sealing matrix spun out from and covered nearly his entire torso. He then followed up with several more of the same crushing punches before his opponent had the wherewithal to activate his intangibility and gain some space, but Minato had done what he needed to do. The masked man quickly realized the same, and for the first time, all night spoke with anger in his voice.

I see. This is a contract seal. I'm assuming I no longer have control of the nine tails. Frustrating, I should have remembered what a pain in the ass I was dealing with."

Minato replied, "You've failed. Whatever you wanted to do with the nine tails is over. You will not get a second chance."

This seemed to amuse the man, "Have I failed? If I'm not mistaken, while you've been dealing with little old me a walking calamity has been making itself at home in your village. A village you're sworn to protect if I'm not mistaken, Lord Hokage. Maybe there will be a few buildings left standing by the time you get back so that isn't a title in name only."

Now it was Minato's time to be amused, "The damage will be significant, but make no mistake you have failed. Konoha is strong, her shinobis stronger. I'll finish up here and return to my soldiers fighting valiantly, serving the village they have sworn to protect." "Feel free to return now, I've had my fun for the night. Your village awaits you." With those last words, the masked man vanished once again. Minato waited for a minute before determining that the mystery man would indeed not be returning to this clearing. Still, he was not convinced that would be the last he'd be seeing of this new villain.

For the first time since he began his engagement, he had the presence of mind to listen to the outside environment and heard another earth-shaking roar from the direction of the village. A powerful reminder that this long night was nowhere near over. If anything, he realized it was about to become much less pleasant. He would need to get the Kyuubi out of the village and seal it away again, in that order. Part of him wanted to deny it, but he knew who would be the one who had to have the tailed beast sealed in them. Kushina's condition was too weak, she would not survive the process and they would be left in the exact same situation. His son would have to carry the burden, and what a damning burden it was to place on a newborn. He could only hope his son had the strength to shoulder it, especially considering the seal he would need to use to do the job. Less than an hour into his son's life and Minato felt like a failure of a father, and a heavy pressure emerged in his chest at the thought. The cruelest part of it all was the fact he wouldn't be able to try and make what he was doing right. Damning his son like this and not being there for him, it hurt his soul to even think of it, but he was Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and he had a duty to fulfill to the people who had entrusted their lives to him that went beyond his own worries and desires.

With a strange nauseating combination of guilt and determination brewing in his stomach, he disappeared from the clearing with a flash, reemerging back on top of the Hokage mountain to the sight of a titanic battle. As he expected, the Kyuubi had broken free of its elemental shackles, but it had not made much more progress towards the heart of the village. The sight of his shinobi's resolve eased his own concerns, and the thrum of battle began taking over his mind once again.

Calculating the best course of action, he bit his thumb and blurred through a quick set of hand seals before slamming his palm into the ground. Above him, he knew Gamabunta would be assessing the situation as he plummeted to the ground at rapid speed. Minato then entered the fray himself, throwing a kunai towards the ongoing battle below him. Emerging with a flash, he stood at the head of the defense forces staring into the now slitted red eye of the great Kyuubi no Yoko. It snarled, clearly recognizing him from earlier, even with its mind being controlled. Raising a mighty paw, it slammed it down at him before hitting nothing but the ground as he reappeared on a nearby building. He surveyed the area and was thankful that none of his soldiers had been caught up in the attack. Konoha's shinobi were too well-trained to let such an opportunity go to waste and used the Kyuubi's attack to counter with several of their own.

Then, as the beast was assaulted on multiple sides with powerful elemental jutsu, a shadow emerged around it rapidly growing in size. As the Kyuubi began looking up, a toad the size of the Hokage tower crashed into its body with concussive force. A shockwave emanated from the impact, blowing dust and debris in every direction. As the dust cleared, Minato was greeted with the sight of an enormous orange-toad with a curious blue haori sitting on top of the greatest tailed-beast holding a massive tanto that was currently piercing the head of the giant fox. For most beings, this would be a death sentence. But unfortunately, this was not most beings, and Minato watched as the Kyuubi only grew more enraged at the attack. To his eyes, it seemed like the beast was angrier than hurt if it was hurt at all, and he wondered if there was anything their attacks could do to truly harm it.

Even with its body being crushed by a weight equivalent to a small mountain, the fox once again opened its mouth, with the tell-tale oppressive feeling of a dense chakra indicating a tailed beast bomb would be following shortly. It was time for him to take the fight outside of the village, so Minato lobbed a kunai high into the air before teleporting to it and throwing four more around the prone form of the Kyuubi. He then brought his hands together, racing the rapidly forming ball of devastation, and blazed through hand signs faster than he ever had in his life. Right as the Kyuubi readied itself for its attack, a blinding glow emerged from the ground before disappearing as fast as it had appeared leaving no trace of the gigantic animals it had encompassed.

To the northwest, some 30 miles away from the village, Minato emerged perched on Gamabunta's head right as the Kyuubi released its attack just below them. It shot forward, sailing through the air until it impacted the face of a mountain. His being was filled with light and a scorching heat rode the wave of the explosion's impact. For a second, it seemed like he would be vaporized from the sheer power of the beast's attack. Had this hit the village, he had no doubt it would have ceased existence. After a few seconds, his vision began to emerge again, leaving him with a vision of devastation.

Where a small mountain range had existed stood a crater. A five-mile-wide crater, filled with bubbling magma from the superheating of rock. This was only the beginning of the destruction. Surrounding the crater, where once a forest created from the First Hokage's legendary wood release was barren earth. Cracks ran through this desolate stretch of land, originating from the crater's center. While Minato held no expertise on plants and forests, he knew it would be a lifetime before this land was suitable for new life to begin emerging, if it ever did. The Kyuubi no Yoko had always been described as a walking natural disaster, but he now realized the legends of the beast creating tsunamis with its tails and earthquakes with its steps undersold the might of the strongest tailed beast. This wasn't the power of a natural disaster; this was the power of a demon. A demon that could bring forth hell with one attack. With this strength, the Kyuubi was not limited to wiping out villages, it could wipe out humanity.

With one attack Minato could now understand how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had done the impossible and ended a millennium of warring clans, reorganizing a balance of power that had existed through countless generations in under a decade. If the stories were true, and by all accounts they were, then these men who could control the Kyuubi no Yoko must have been as close to gods as humans could get. With that sort of power, it was no wonder Daimyo Sukemasa Shimazu had ended his family's centuries of unchallenged authority and helped create the dual power hidden village system. It also must have been a testament to the mercy of Senju Hashirama, who must have been able to overthrow everyone alongside Madara, but instead allowed non-ninjas to remain with power and authority. Understanding in a way that was impossible before seeing the full might of the nine-tailed fox, he knew this situation needed to end now or run the risk of spiraling into further disaster. A patch of forest was an easy cost to swallow. A village was not.

"Gamabunta," he spoke to gain his summon's attention, "Hold it down as long as you can. I'll be back in a second."

Not waiting for a reply, he activated the seal in the hideout holding his wife and son, reemerging to the sight of his wife in the process of kitting herself for battle. "Kushina, you need to rest. If it wasn't for your heritage, you would be dead, please don't push yourself any further," Minato implored his wife. "Minato, I know what you're about to do, and I won't let you do it alone. When we get there, I'll use my chains to hold Kyuubi down. Use that time to prepare Naruto for the sealing." As she spoke, she finished her preparations, turning to face him. With her frontside revealed, Minato could see a tear in her top right where her seal would have been. It was difficult to see behind the bloody mess her stomach become following the Kyuubi's violent separation from her being, but he could see blackened flesh. She must have cauterized the wound with a fire jutsu he realized. The fact that she was able to stand through what must be agonizing pain from the seal's release and cauterization gave testament to both her willpower and the legendary Uzumaki fortitude.

With a sigh, he scratched the back of his head and resigned himself to this course of action. "There's not going to be any stopping you is there." She gingerly covered the distance between them and pinched his cheek with a teasing smile. "Good boy. I'm glad you've learned something being married to me. It saves us some time we can't waste. Grab Naruto and let's go." He knew this was a front by her intended to cover how weak she must be, but he appreciated it, nonetheless. He smiled and pecked her on the lips before complying with her order. Lifting Naruto up, he looked at his son who was making no noise at this point, and soaked in as much of the boy's features as he could in a second.

He wished the moment could have lasted longer, but before he knew it, he was in motion again heading back to his wife. Grabbing her hand, he willed them both to teleport back to the battlefield.

They landed back on Gamabunta's head, where the summon had done a valiant job keeping the fox in place. Still, they all knew this couldn't last forever, and the Kyuubi had already succeeded in getting its hind legs off the ground, struggling with all its might to dislodge the blade keeping it pinned. With no time to waste, he targeted a patch of ground in front of the Kyuubi relatively unharmed from its prior attack and sent a kunai to it. Keeping hold of his family, the world distorted before their perspective shifted, revealing an angry, snarling fox face. Massive golden chains burst from the earth surrounding the Kyuubi, looping around its downed form where Gamabunta wasn't. The chains finished their work by wrapping around the fox's snout, preventing from forming another of its strongest attack.

Minato sprung into action immediately, summoning an alter where he placed Naruto, who was no crying at the top of his lungs, most likely feeling disturbed by the thick, cloying malevolent chakra emanating from the Kyuubi. He wished he could do something to help, but there was no way for him to combat such a thick killing intent, so he set himself on making its source disappear. Fortunately, the Dead Reaper Summoning Seal was already ready for use. For all of its power, and even with its deadly consequence, the seal was an incredibly simple one to activate. What it lacked in complexity it made up for in potency. Summoning the spirit of the death god onto the mortal plane was no small task, and the reaper was guaranteed to take the life of its summoner once it was brought forth.

Steeling himself, he realized that this was not how he had ever pictured his death. As a career soldier, death wasn't something he had ever shied from. It was a constant in his line of work, and every veteran shinobi had to come to terms with the reality that death was always around the corner. Even though he had, nothing could prepare himself for the reality that he had always envisioned his death being more pleasant. Surrounded by family and comrades. His son grown and accomplished. His village safe. Hopefully in the daylight of a warm Land of Fire autumn, when the leaves' shades of orange and red shimmered like the country's namesake. Part of him had never accepted that he wouldn't control how his death came, and he could only imagine the number of shinobi before him who had faced this same realization moments before their death and battle. This was an honorable way to go, but it was not a pleasant one. It was not the one he wanted, but it was the one he was going to have.

It felt like he wasn't in control of his own body, but his hands brought themselves together to begin the hand seals. The Kyuubi, clearly understood what his intentions were, and began thrashing with increased vigor, roaring a challenge to the heavens. From his side the strain of its actions caused his wife to cough from behind him, likely blood knowing the condition she was in. Her resolve held strong, and the chains stayed in place.

Throughout this, his hands moved through the hand signs, glacial compared to the speed he had used to teleport the fox from the village. Hands clasped together; fingers gripping each other. Snake. Hands held facing down with knuckles and thumb touching. Boar. Hands together facing upwards; rightmost ring and pinky finger of the left hand lying on the right. Two leftmost fingers pointing upwards. Ram. Hands interlocked sideways; pointer fingers out. Right-hand fingers curled inwards except for the pinky. Hare. Left-hand flat on right fist. Dog. Left hand with pointer and middle finger pointing up and thumb on the outside; gripped by the right hand. Rat. Hands pressed together; middle fingers and thumbs curled pressing against each other; outside fingers angled up with the tips touching. Bird. Hands connected; fingers curled and interlocked at the knuckles; except for the index fingers forming touching at their tips forming a triangle. Horse. His hand moved to form the last hand seal, ram once again.

p style="margin-bottom: .11in; line-height: 200%;"Before this could happen, two things happened to prevent it. First, with a sense of horror, he watched the Kyuubi break one of its mammoth paws from the chain's grasp. The paw, tipped with claws larger than a katana, moved towards Naruto's crib with a speed that should be impossible for an object of its size. Second, he felt death behind him. He didn't understand how he knew it was death, but some primordial part of his brain blared at him a sense of danger unlike any other. It didn't take much to put two and two together given the seal he was a split second from completing. This was wrong, he realized, very wrong. He had not finished the summoning; it would have been impossible for the Shinigami to appear without the final ram seal. If he hadn't, there was only one other person who could have done it. Distantly, he remembered the seal was of Uzumaki origin./p

His split second of hesitation was enough to seal his son's fate. By the time he could get over the shock of his wife's decision, the Kyuubi's claw was close enough to his son that he would not make it in time with the speed of its approach. He couldn't do nothing. Even knowing it was futile, he channeled chakra to his legs and kicked off to cover the short distance to his son. A black blur halted his actions, as it rushed past him and placed itself between his son and the furry orange death approaching him right in time for a collision with the claw. Time halted, as the Third Hokage stood with a hole in his archaic black battle armor, filled with the Kyuubi's claw.

A cough spewed blood from his lips, but still, the legendary shinobi found the strength to catch some of the escaping fluid and bring his hands together to bring out his summon, the Monkey King Enma. The two monoliths of Konoha's history, survivors of countless battles, the duo that held the record for most confirmed S-rank kills needed no words to be exchanged between them. With his significant strength, Enma gripped the claw, halting what had been a creeping advance towards Naruto, even with the Hokage using his body to slow it down and hold it in place. With their combined efforts they succeeded in doing so.

"Minato, Kushina you need to do it now! We will give you enough time to complete the sealing."

The former Hokage's words brought Minato's attention back to his wife's actions. Turning, he was greeted with a sight that he knew would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. His wife looked as she had when they had first arrived to the battle. Weak, bloody, and filled with a resolve that took his breath away. Suspended above her was a being that emanated a feeling so beyond humanity that he could feel his brain straining to comprehend what it was seeing. Instinctually he understood this was not the Shinigami's true form, for death was too pure and fundamental to have one, but merely a manifestation that wouldn't cause his brain to bubble and leak from his head. This looming figure, taller than any human with skin the mottled gray of a corpse and long hair the color of ash, still ranked as the most terrifying sight of his life. Looking at it only strengthened the feeling of fear and death he had felt when it was first brought into the mortal plane. He feared if he looked into its eyes, lifeless and unseeing in the same way a corpse on a battlefield was, he would go insane. Instead, he kept his gaze on the knife held between its teeth.

His wife spoke, "Minato, I'm sorry. I know you wanted it to be you, but I was not going to make it past this night regardless of what happened. And you're the Hokage. You have a son and a village to protect, they need you. It had to be this way. I love you two with all my heart. Thank you for making a girl taken from her home and given a demon find a new place that felt like home. You two are the best thing that ever happened in my life." She finished her words with a bright smile, so beautiful it made his heart clench knowing it would be the last time he saw it.

"I will take care of him Kushina. He will grow up loved, and he will know how much his mother loved him. He will know how strong his mother was. I love you too, thank you for being the best thing that happened to me too."

With nothing left for them to say, Kushina activated the seal. An apparition of his wife appeared between her and the Shinigami. Minato knew that this had to be done right. "Kushina first take half of the Kyuubi's chakra into yourself and bring into the seal with you." As he said this, a hand manifested from the Shinigami and broke off to the Kyuubi's trapped form, who had begun thrashing harder under Gamabunta's bulk seeing its fate being sealed. Even with its effort, Gamabunta and the legendary duo held strong. When the hand made impact with the beast, a seal appeared on Kushina's charred stomach. "Next, leave some chakra in Naruto's seal. It will allow you to speak with him when he needs it most. It won't last long but it's something." She nodded, and ran through the hand signs again, causing another hand to emerge and head for the fox.

Minato walked forward then, approaching his wife for the final time. His heart was broken, but he didn't want their last moments together to be bitter ones. Reaching her, he instead pulled her into a hug before kissing her on the lips. Giving her his biggest smile, he gave his final goodbye.

"I'm going to break you free from the Shinigami's seal. I swear we will see each other on the other side. This is only a goodbye for now."

His wife returned his smile, "Then goodbye for now. Make sure Naruto goes to bed on time. And make sure he eats a healthy diet. If I see you in the afterlife and our son is a shrimp you will not hear the end of it. You hear me, mister. No! Shrimp!"

This brought peals of laughter from him. Even in this tragic moment, his wife's energy was like a balm for his soul. He would never meet a woman like her. By the time he finished laughing the life had left her eyes. He caught her and awkwardly shrugged off his cloak. Setting it on the ground, he then gently placed her body on it. Closing her eyes he left a soft kiss on her forehead and faced the direction of his son and the battle. The Kyuubi was gone, leaving only his son and the Third Hokage, or what was left of the Third Hokage. His body rested on the ground, face forward. He could have been thought to be asleep in an uncomfortable position were it not for the gaping hole in his torso. It was an ugly wound, the edges of it torn messily from the Kyuubi's fighting. Intestines peeked out from it and blood soaked the ground. The heroic last actions of the greatest Hokage deserved a better death than this, but they were shinobi, and a messy death was a reality of their chosen life.

Minato felt truly defeated for the first time in his life. Even the death of Obito had not given him this same feeling, even as it had broken his heart and made him question his abilities as a teacher and man. Standing in this decimated patch of land, his only company a screaming infant and corpses, he cried.

By the time shinobi from the village had caught up with their location his tears had dried. They came ready for battle with the planet's strongest being, but they handled the sight of the village's leading figures dead, an exhausted Hokage, a still crying baby well, and an apocalyptic wasteland. Minato had been trying to calm Naruto for the past ten minutes but had no luck. He couldn't blame him. A dead mother and a demon inside of him was a good reason to cry.

A jonin was the first to muster the courage to speak to him, snapping out a salute, "Lord Hokage, may I request a status update." His formality helped ground Minato. "The Kyuubi no Yoko has been sealed within my son. My wife gave her life to use the strongest seal known to us. Lord Third gave his life to defend Naruto and give us the time to complete the sealing."

As shocking as he was sure this information must be none of his shinobi gave a reaction to that. It was a testament to their discipline. The same jonin spoke again. "Further orders, sir."

He had to think about that. He would need to take Naruto to the hospital first, as well as give Kushina's body to them to have her body prepared for a funeral. Then he would need to meet with his senior military staff to go over the damages the Kyuubi's attack had caused and chart a path forward. He also needed to speak with Fugaku and go over the most disturbing aspect of this attack. With the path decided he replied, "Summon High Command to my office. Tell them to upgrade emergency status 2. Tell them they are also free to begin rescue efforts in full now. I also need Fugaku Uchiha informed that I have an important matter to discuss with him after the general meeting."

"Your will be done, Lord Hokage," a quick salute followed and the jonin departed to execute his orders. With a sigh, he stood up, "The rest of you can return to the village and aid in the rescue efforts. ANBU, on me."

With trained efficiency, the remainder of his troops set back to the village at speed to go assist in mitigating the damage from the attack. Four dark blurs materialized at his side, all clad in the standard black combat year given to ANBU black ops members. Their only distinguishing feature was their masks, each using markings to give the visages of an animal that gave them their codenames. Dog, the leader of these four, stepped forward and kneeled before him as the others followed his lead. "What would you have done, my lord." He gestured for them to rise before replying, "Boar, return to headquarters and organize all available ANBU for defense. I don't want any more action tonight," he turned to the agent with the bird mask, "Sparrow, call back all operatives within 25 miles of the village. Issue an order to all others within the country to move towards the border and double patrols. We need to appear strong while we sort through this. Have all out-of-country operatives who are not deep cover or on S-rank clearance missions return to the village for new orders, all of their current missions are canceled effective immediately. You two are dismissed."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," the two chorused before disappearing in two blurs. He could now rest a little easier knowing those two would be taking care of two of the more pressing problems left tonight. That was the beauty of the ANBU, even with their leadership structure each agent was cross-trained in all skills deemed necessary for the completion of their duties. Their competency varied depending on their specialization, but any ANBU operative had enough skill to be trusted in completing a task, including those involving leadership and organization.

Addressing the two remaining operatives he prepared himself to depart for the hospital, "Dog, Cat you'll be accompanying me. Please grab my wife and Lord Third and grab hold of me. Time is of the essence tonight." After complying with his order, the six of them, four living and two dead found themselves in a room eerily similar to the one Minato found himself in at the beginning of the night. The whitewashed walls and sanitized smell of the hospital did nothing to set his nerves at ease, but he knew this was nothing but himself being irrational. The three of them sat there in silence, Naruto thankfully making small noises to prevent the silence from being suffocated.

"They didn't have to wait long for assistance. Keyed into this room with his seal was another that alerted the front desk when he arrived, so only a minute after their arrival the door opened to reveal a middle-aged doctor accompanied by a handful of nurses. All of them wore their stress plainly, and he could sympathize with their slightly stooped soldiers and downcast eyes. This night would not get any shorter or easier for these women, as now that the fighting was over their battle began to save as many lives as they could from what surely felt like a nearly endless number of wounded. He didn't want to take up too much of their time, so he gave them his directions immediately.

"Doctor Masaru, thank you and your staff for all of your efforts tonight. I am fine, so I won't be here too long, but I need you to attend to some things before I go." He smiled at the nurses in the room, "Unfortunately, some of these things are quite sensitive so I am going to have to ask you ladies to wait outside." Despite the order from the Hokage, the nurses hesitated for a second before receiving a nod from the doctor and complying. He couldn't blame them, Doctor Masaru was a battlefield iryonin before she worked at the hospital, and the intimidating aura she had cultivated to get debilitatingly wounded soldiers to comply had only strengthened during her time here. It did not help that the night had already begun taking a toll on the overtaxed woman. The stern look she gave him, complete with dark rings forming below her brown eyes and slightly frazzled brown hair left him feeling like an academy student getting reprimanded by his teacher. Not that he would ever let her know that.

"This is my son Naruto," he raised his arms to gesture the infant cradled between them, "He is now the container of the Kyuubi. The seal binding the demon to him is a strong one, but I need you to do a check-up and see if it has had any effect on his chakra network and health. I also need you to attend to the bodies of my wife and the Lord Third. Please send them to the morgue and have them prepared for their funerals. This is something that can obviously wait for some time. Thank you again for your work tonight, I know it will not get any easier."

"Understood, Lord Hokage. We will take good care of the boy and have their bodies treated with the utmost respect. If that is all, I request that you leave your son on the table, and I will handle the check-in myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have someone cover my duties and fetch someone to come collect their bodies." She turned and left the room without waiting for a dismissal, and he could only shake his head with a grin at the boldness of the woman. Not that he would've stopped her and risked her ire. He composed himself before turning to the two remaining people in the room.

"Cat, I'm going to be leaving you here to help the hospital staff. People will be grieving and frazzled from the Kyuubi's attack. I have faith in my villagers, but something like this can bring out the worst in people as emotions run high. Help to ensure that doesn't happen. Let them know any disobedience or disruption of the hospital's staff will be tantamount to directly disobeying an order from me with all of the penalties such a transgression entail. You may also assist the staff with their duties when you're able to. I know you're skilled as an iryonin, and I wish I could send more ANBU to help the village, but security comes first at the moment, so it will have to be just you. Dismissed."

He waited for her to salute and exit the room before setting Naruto gently in the center of the examination table and addressing Dog, "Kakashi please remove your mask." Dog's tense shoulders and stiff movements following his order belied just how much he wished he didn't have to do this, but he was a trained soldier through and through. With his porcelain mask removed, Kakashi couldn't even meet his eyes. He had seen the boy in some of his lowest moments following the deaths of his teammates, and he had been worried about his mental state for some time, but in all the time he had known his student Kakashi had never averted his eyes. It didn't take much for him to figure out what was the cause of this.

"Kakashi, it was not your fault. You were-," in incredibly uncharacteristic fashion Kakashi did not let him finish his sentence. He cut him off with a burst of passion he rarely ever saw from the boy, "Don't say that! It's never my fault to you! Obito pushed me out of the way and died. Not my fault! I stabbed Rin through the chest with my own jutsu. Not my fault. I was assigned to Lady Kushina as her guardian, and she died. Not my fault! How is it never my fault when the people I am meant to be protecting die? It is my fault; it has to be!" He stopped to catch his breath, tears that had begun halfway through his tirade now leaking from both his covered and uncovered eye steadily. The pause in his words allowed for some of the realizations of his actions to hit him, and he looked chagrin as he spoke again, "My apologies Lord Hokage. That was unbecoming of a shinobi. I will not interrupt you again."

He waved off his apology and pulled the crying boy into a hug. His body stiffened and tense, but the action had a powerful effect as the boy's resolve gave in and the tense shoulders quickly turned to shaking ones as the sobs began. Despite his clothes quickly becoming soaked and the powerful wracking of his shoulders as Kakashi continued to cry, Minato could only smile sadly down at the wild mane of silver hair buried into his chest. He had thought he was doing right by placing Kakashi into the ANBU to give him a new purpose. He had been mistaken, stupidly so, in doing that. He had forgotten that even being one of the greatest prodigies the world had seen, and soon to be one of the strongest men in the world he was sure, Kakashi was still a very young man with a very sad life so far. He hadn't needed a new purpose; he had needed comfort and love to help heal the wounds of his heart.

Kakashi had never seemed so small and fragile in this moment. It only drove home how much he needed Minato at this moment. "There's no need to apologize Kakashi. It's just us in here and you don't need to stand on formality. And I know you don't want to hear this, but it isn't your fault, and it never has been." These words elicited a choked sob, "Kushina was my wife and there is nobody I have ever known better in my life. She would not have blamed you. You weren't assigned to her unit tonight. It wasn't your job. Even if you had been there, it wouldn't have been your fault. The man who orchestrated this was strong. He gave me a run for my money, and he had some of the strongest powers I have come across. What could you have done against a man like that?" At this, Kakashi created some separation from him and met his eyes for the first time in the conversation. His shoulders were still shaking slightly as he clearly fought the continued urge to cry. Minato would have pushed the boy to let it all out, but he knew the teenager well enough to know that wouldn't help him right now.

He continued, "The only one at fault tonight was that man. He was the one who killed my wife. He was the one who released the Kyuubi. We are not accountable for his actions. We are only men, and as such all, we could have done was stop him. Maybe we could have done better but that does nothing for us now. All we can do is be better prepared for the next time. That's life Kakashi, to think we can stop every danger or that the world is arrogance." The words may have been blunt, but they had some effect, judging by the widening of the young ninja's eyes. He wasn't under any delusion that this conversation would solve all of Kakashi's deep-seated issues, but it was time for him to hear this.

He did not expect the vehemence Kakashi responded to him with, "So we do nothing sensei? Are we supposed to just wait for disaster to strike and loved ones to die? Are we never at fault? Where does blame begin and end and how can you be so confident saying it's not my fault. I was in charge of protecting these people!" Minato cut him off there, "Of course it was your duty to protect them. Just like it was my duty to protect my wife and village. Should I resign as Hokage tonight? No! We are shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, our bonds and love for our family and comrades is what makes us strong. We fight to protect what we love, and sometimes they die. That is the reality of living and being a shinobi. We walk with death. But we continue for their sake because doing otherwise would dishonor their memory. The world is cruel, and it strikes at random. Sometimes it strikes the same person more than once. You have gone through a lot Kakashi, nobody can blame you for the bitterness in your heart. But you have a choice to make. Will you honor the memory of your father, Obito, Rin, and Kushina by cherishing their memory and growing stronger to protect the new loved ones who enter your life. Even knowing that this may not be enough. Or will you let the guilt eat you alive until you take a mission you know you can't complete and die alone in a foreign country?

He paused to collect his breath, "That is the current path you are on Kakashi, and it is the easy one. The hard one is trying to be better and be happy. It is the one that is filled with adversity and the one that carries the most risk, but it is the one that the people you have lost would want you to walk. Your father lost his life choosing his comrades over his mission. He was one of the greatest heroes of the Leaf and the embodiment of the Will of Fire. I have never met a finer shinobi in my life. He would want you to choose the difficult path."

These last words clearly rattled the prodigy, who looked like the slightest breeze could knock him over. He felt bad at the harshness of his words, but at the same time, he had not lied. Kakashi was an amazing boy, one who wanted to love his comrades with all of his heart but had only been hurt by that desire. He needed to be brought out of his shell and given support. Minato intended to do just that, but he needed Kakashi to want to heal first. Otherwise, this would go nowhere.

Several long moments dragged out between his last words and Kakashi's reply. Several moments that sucked the air out of the room and filled it with a pressing, tangible silence. In those moments, Kakashi's eyes seemed to flash rapidly through thoughts and emotions. By the time he began to reply to Minato already knew his answer. Where the boy had looked like a leaf in the wind before he now had some iron return to his spine. "I will honor their memories sensei. I will be the man I will be. I will do everything I can to protect my comrades." Despite these strong words some doubt still entered his posture and words, "But to be honest sensei I don't know how."

He brought him into a hug once again. This time no tears came, and it was a warmer embrace. His heart unclenched for the first time since the conversation began. "Nobody does Kakashi. That's what makes life so hard and so beautiful. But we'll try together, and I'll be there with you every step of the way. I promise you that." He knew what to do now and pulled back from the hug before crossing to where Naruto had been quietly observing the two. "Now I think it's time you met my son and I told you what is going to happen next." He placed the baby in Kakashi's arm who had the sheepish, uncomfortable expression of a teenager holding a newborn for the first time. Every part of Kakashi screamed his discomfort at this new responsibility, and he held the Naruto like he was a cross between a burning paper bomb and the finest piece of china in existence.

A deep belly laugh erupted from his lips for the first time tonight watching the extraordinary teenager look so scared. Kakashi did not appreciate this and scowled at him, which only served to increase his laughter. "You are such a brat! Don't worry, he's a strong baby. You're not going to break him." He laughed again before composing himself, Kakashi's glare never relenting. "Alright, alright you're going to kill me with that look if you don't get it off your face. Now let's get down to business. First, you will be in charge of watching Naruto during his examination and bringing him to my office afterward. Second, effective tomorrow you will be removed from the active shinobi roster indefinitely. Third, effective tomorrow you will be moving into the Hokage's residence with me and Naruto." Kakashi opened his mouth with clear intentions to protest this last point. Minato cut him off with a cheeky grin, "No arguing, Hokage's orders! After you drop off Naruto go back to your apartment and go to bed. You have a long day of packing tomorrow. Fourth, congratulations you are hereby named the godson of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. You should be honored, you won out over the revered Toad Sage Jiraiya!

With that, channeling the mischievousness of his wife he flashed out of the hospital room leaving behind an indignant and confused teenager frightfully holding his newborn son. He reappeared in his office in another flash. Waiting for him were his most trusted advisors and warriors. Reverting back to Hokage mode he addressed the assembled group, "Tonight we were dealt a significant blow. We will need to formulate a plan of action to help recuperate from the losses of the night and project strength to the rest of the Great Five. We cannot afford any missteps now. To begin, give me a status report on the current situation."

His Jonin Commander stepped forward. Shikaku Nara carried none of his usual laziness tonight. His usual slumped posture and lazy countenance were gone, replaced by sharp eyes and a set jaw that only appeared when he was particularly serious. "We have suffered both significant civilian casualties and significant shinobi casualties. For civilians, the count stands at 14,753 confirmed dead with another 48,386 missing as of right now. Both figures are expected to rise dramatically by the night's end. Shinobi figures stand at 4,320 dead and 800 missing but presumed dead. Neither figure is expected to rise at the same rate as the civilian numbers."

He paused to let the room digest the numbers before continuing, "Rescue efforts are in full force. We have all active soldiers not being used for guard duty and emergency services assisting in finding missing persons. The most important emergency service being conducted is the clearing of debris to allow for supply lines to be reestablished throughout the village. We have issued a call for the reserves to be mobilized for aid throughout the village, and by morning they should all be deployed. Destruction is significant. We are unable to calculate the percentage of the village that has been damaged, but estimates begin at 15%. The path the Kyuubi took towards the Hokage Tower bore the brunt of the damage, but the fighting caused destruction to be interspersed randomly throughout the village. The damage is severe, but I believe with our rapid response they will be mitigated as much as possible given the circumstances." After concluding his report, he stepped back into line with his fellow officers.

Minato mulled over this update. The damage was catastrophic but not debilitating. The lives that were lost could not be replaced, but with time they could replenish their numbers and rebuild the lost buildings and infrastructure. He had some ideas, but he wanted more input, "What are your thoughts? I would like to hear your opinions, permission to speak freely granted.

Hisashi Hyuuga stepped up first, his white, pupilless eyes nearly glowing with intensity, "We must strike at those who caused this. Until we bring those people to justice we will be mocked throughout the nations. People at bars will laugh into their cups about the decline of the Great Konoha."

"I agree with Hisashi, aside from our reconstruction efforts our first move needs to be striking back. I can ready my clan to begin a search across the nation to find them." This came from Tsume Inuzuka, the matriarch of the bestial Inuzuka clan. It was an unsurprising addition to the conversation given the clan's general tendency towards aggression. They were beast masters first and foremost and had developed a need for such personality traits to tame their fierce battle partners. Still, he knew these sentiments were misguided.

"We will be classifying this information as S-rank. It will be on a need-to-know basis so do not allow this to go further. The cause of this attack was a single man wearing a mask. This man was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with me for a time and knowledgeable enough to be aware of Kushina's birthing location and status as the Kyuubi's jailer. I would suspect this man was a shinobi of Konoha given these facts, but he used teleportation and intangibility jutsus that were extremely powerful and would be incredibly difficult to hide for an entire shinobi career. Still, we cannot discount the possibility it was a traitor who caused this attack. Regardless though, those two jutsus make him virtually impossible to capture without myself present, so I do not believe we should prioritize his capture. Instead, I believe figuring out a way to defend against him teleporting freely into and around the village should be the top priority regarding this mystery attacker."

The room clearly did not expect this news but given what he had said he did not expect a response from anyone on this topic. Their hands were incredibly tied by the nature of the man's powers, and though he was sure none of them liked the situation like him, there was little they could do about it at the moment.

Fugaku Uchiha broke the silence, "If we imminent capture of the man is not likely we should move on to other pressing matters. Our two biggest concerns will be funding the rebuilding efforts of the village, and projecting strength to the rest of the Great Five to prevent them from thinking now would be a good time to toss out the Treatise of Battafirudo and annex territories. Or worse, launch an invasion into the Land of Fire."

General comments of agreement filtered out of most people present at that, and Minato could sense this was the largest concern for nearly everyone there. "I agree. The first matter is easy to resolve. Konoha has long maintained a reserve fund that has been periodically supplemented through a portion of taxes since the village's founding. It is intended for use during a crisis or invasion, especially for recovery efforts. We have had the good fortune to have never suffered a night like this, so it is more than able to cover these costs. Within our charter, with the Daimyo, there are also provisions for situations like this. He has a duty to provide resources, including money, to assist in our rebuilding. Additionally, vendors throughout the Land of Fire are required to sell any materials we buy wholesale that are intended for use rebuilding at a discounted price."

Every member of the council seemed relieved at this information. "As for the projection of power, I suggest keeping the reserves active for a period no greater than three years to assist with missions within the Land of Fire. This will allow us to free up our higher-ranked shinobi for missions. I would not only like to maintain our current mission intake for the next year but increase it to demonstrate that we are still the world's greatest power. I also suggest sending our best and brightest genin to the chunin exams this year to show that our future is as bright as ever. ANBU will also shift their current mission breakdown and take on a higher volume of not-for-profit missions intended to destabilize other nations."

An elderly man covered in bandages stepped forward at that waiting for permission to speak, which Minato granted with a nod in his direction. "If I may, Lord Hokage, my Root are more than capable of handling those missions. Instead of using ANBU for such purposes, might I suggest using them instead, and allowing some ANBU to return to regular duty to complete high visibility missions. This would kill two birds with one stone I believe."

Minato didn't need to weigh that suggestion for long. "Approved. Root's efforts are greatly appreciated. Your idea for the ANBU also has merit. We will need to iron out the details at a later date, but I believe that is a good temporary policy to implement."

With that, the rest of the meeting passed uneventfully. They quibbled about the merits of various ideas, but in general, their focus was on ironing out plans and determining the best way to implement their new measures. At the end of the discussions, the atmosphere in the room had lightened tremendously, and if he could read his officers correctly then they all had some of their stress relieved. The consensus seemed to be that although the next few years would be stressful and filled with difficulties, Konoha would persevere and come out on top as it always had.

After dismissing his council for the night, the only people remaining were Fugaku and himself. Fugaku had been wise enough to leave with the rest of the group before doubling back and reentering the room. Despite the two's long history together, there was a tension that lingered in the room. Minato had never seen his former teammate looked as put out as he did not. As the chief of the Konoha Police Force, user of the Mangekyo Sharingan, head of the Uchiha clan, and one of Konoha's finest warriors, Fugaku was no stranger to stresses. Grey hairs poked out of his brown hair, a testament to this fact, and judging by his heavy eyes and deep frown he would be gaining a few more from the night. All of this told Minato that he was aware of what they would be discussing tonight.

Without making eye contact, Fugaku confirmed those suspicions, "I have heard of Kushina's passing. Mikoto will be devastated. I am sorry for your loss, if I can do anything for you in these trying times, please allow me to do so." Minato thanked him before allowing him to continue. "It was an Uchiha, wasn't it. I've never heard of powers like the ones you described, but a Mangekyo is as good an explanation as any for them. And the Sharingan is the only way I know of to control a tailed-beast."

"It was," Minato replied. "But I don't believe that it was an Uchiha actively aligned with the village. Since Konoha's founding, it has been common practice for us to keep track of any Uchiha that might have unlocked the Mangekyo, a remnant of Lord Second's influence." Fugaku looked up at him with slightly widened eyes, evidently, he had never heard of this policy. Minato ignored his reaction, "Currently, we have no Uchiha that have been on missions that we flagged. Of course, they could always have activated it outside of a mission, but in our limited history with the Mangekyo, there have always been corresponding psychological shifts that correspond with the eye's activation requirements. Again, no Uchiha have demonstrated these traits. This is an imperfect assessment, but my gut also tells me this was not an Uchiha within the village. I trust the evidence and I trust my gut."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage, I appreciate your trust in our clan. I also do not believe that it was any member of my clan. During the attack we had everyone accounted for. Those who were not in the clan's compounds could be found helping to defend the village, and I am sure we can confirm this with careful vetting. I would be happy to do so." Fugaku appeared genuine in his words.

"Good, I appreciate that. Aside from this news, I wanted to talk to you about a more important matter. Regardless of whether he was a current clan member or not, the fact remains that it was an Uchiha who orchestrated this attack. While we do not know his motivation, I find it hard to blame him. If there is one thing that the Lord Second did wrong above all it was his treatment of your clan. For too long, your clan has been marginalized, treated with suspicion, and prevented from positions of authority. Our treatment of one of our founding clans is one of the great black marks in our history. I have wanted to change this since I assumed my position as Hokage, but I kept putting it off for what I felt were more pressing matters. You have my apology. I do not intend to continue making the mistake. Fugaku, as the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Lead Village I would like to formally apologize for the treatment of your clan." Minato punctuated his speech with a deep bow, eliciting a noise of surprise from the normally stoic man.

"Lord Hokage, stand up! It is not befitting of your position." Minato did as asked, but he knew the significance of his actions. If Fugaku thought that his words had been hollow, there could be no doubt about them now. For a Hokage to willingly bow before a man other than the Daimyo was unheard of and had this been in public there would have been an uproar. "Thank you for your sincerity. You have always been a friend of an Uchiha and your willingness to support us is means everything to our clan. How do you intend to follow through?"

Minato had been thinking about this all throughout the meeting and he finally felt as if he had a good answer. "Your son is quite the shinobi. Chunin at age six is something to be commended. I will take him under my wing, give him personal tutelage, and make the boy the future Lord Fifth. Everything else we can figure out between us. It is long past time for the village to embrace the Uchiha." Fugaku erupted in laughter at the audacity of naming a six-year-old as the heir to the most powerful position in the world. Still, the man knew his son better than anyone, and if what Minato had heard was true, he would have no doubt in his son's capabilities to do it.

"I like the way you think Lord Hokage. I've always thought an Uchiha would look great in the Hokage's robes. I look forward to building a brighter future for the Uchiha Clan and the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

With that, the two men clasped hands and shared a cup of sake in honor of a new future and in remembrance of those who had lost their lives.


There's the first chapter! Thank you to everyone who made it through. I can't promise every chapter will be this long, but I had to open up the story with a bang.