Arc 1: A Nation Unbroken

Chapter 2: Aftermath

"Hold on for me Kushina," Minato said pleadingly to the red haired beauty in his arms after getting over his shock. Composed and always in control of his thoughts and actions, Minato could never be accused of getting overwhelmed. "It's not over just yet," he said as he held up his index finger. She nodded and held out a crying Naruto to Minato with his belly exposed. Minato used the sage chakra given to him from Jiraiya and drew a version of the eight trigrams seal on Naruto's stomach.

This version of the eight trigrams seal was essential to what he had planned for Naruto in the future. The seal was first taught to him by Kushina, for just such a scenario as they found themselves in now. Fearing the pregnancy would have complications, or that she would die during childbirth, it was vital that he knew the seal inside and out so that if the unforeseeable were to happen, he would know how to seal the beast once again, whether it be in little Naruto or the specialized sealing scroll created for just this purpose. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect extraordinary circumstances to come in the form of an Uchiha with a hundred year grudge.

Being who he was, Minato could not just learn a seal and not try to make it better, in his eyes at least. He liked to tweak different techniques by seeing what modifications or changes could be made to make them work quicker and more efficient. It was how he had created his version of the Hiraishin, and the reason he has always looked for ways to create jutsu without the use of hand signs. This seal was no different, and he spent many sleepless nights researching and developing his own version.

As a modified version to the Uzumaki clan seal taught to him by Kushina, it had all of the same functions of the original with only the inner layers being different. Most trigram seals work in a very basic functionality, and rely heavily on the carriers own chakra and health to maintain the inner locking of the seal. His version was different in this regard. Instead of sealing the nine tailed beast's chakra with a wall or separate plain of existence that was on constant rotation inside of the body, he created inner locking's that would allow what he called "permanent leakage".

Permanent leakage was not the same as the regular leakage used in a traditional seal for a Jinchuriki. Traditional leakage allowed the carrier of the biju to take the chakra from the sealed tailed beast when needed, by force in some cases, but allow the beast's chakra to replenish over time using a complicated system of chakra rotation in the Jinchuriki's chakra coil system. This had the advantage of a Jinchuriki always having seemingly unlimited amounts of chakra. His modified seal would instead completely drain the nine tails of its chakra over a long period of time until it became assimilated with Naruto's own chakra, permanently leaving no method of replenishment for the nine tails. The only thing on the other side of the lock would become a powerless husk of consciousness.

He had been worried after he had Hiraishined the nine tails that he would not have enough time and chakra to perform his seal correctly and would have had to use the old version. His seal took a good bit of concentration and focus, an ideal amount of time, and a huge amount of chakra to complete. Luckily, with Jiraiya's sacrifice and the sage chakra given to him, Minato had more than enough time and energy to complete his seal. The hardest part was done, thanks to Jiraiya sealing the nine tails into Naruto already. However, without a seal to contain the beast in one part of his body, Naruto would be at risk of being taken over by the beast and dying in a relative short period of time. That was why most Jinchuriki properly sealed had two containment seals. One to put the beast in the body of the host in the first place, and then one on top of that to isolated and restrict the beast from spreading unwanted chakra and contaminating the host before the body had a chance to assimilate to the Biju's chakra.

As he looked at Kushina, he knew that he needed to be as fast as he possibly could. He pressed his finger on Naruto's belly, and the poor boy seemed to cry even louder. He began to trace a pattern on Naruto's skin, the inner locking's, and in his mind's eye focused on his intent. With seals, the intent was as important as the actual seal drawings. Seals had their own language, and just like with any other language, there was always different accents and ways to say things that had the same meaning or intent. For the most part, one seal drawn in a traditional way for 'fire', can be drawn in an altered way and perform the exact same function as long as the one creating it had the correct amount of focus and intent for what they wanted 'fire' to accomplish.

As he began the finishing touches of his unique locking seal, he felt and saw in his mind the Nine Tails begin to resist. However, the Nine Tails in its weakened and beaten state did not have enough fortitude to push him back. His finger came to a stop finally, and with one final hand sign Minato sealed the fate of his son.

"Fuinjutsu: Eight Lock Inner Merger Seal, complete."


Tea Country...

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. This never happened to her. Not once in her long life as a wandering, drunken, disappointment of a shinobi had this ever happened to her. She could not stay here any longer. Who knew what kind of bad luck would find its way into her life if she did not escape now.

"Well gentlemen!" Tsunade of the Sanin said loudly in a tipsy voice as she scooped up all of her winnings. She had just won eight hands straight, which was all the proof she needed that something very bad was about to happen. "It looks like I'm done for the night…"

"Hold on'!" said an angry looking man to her right as she stood up crookedly. The man went to do the same, and with amusement she thought he might be more drunk then she was as he fell tumbling backwards. There were mumblings and laughter all around the table, but she did not linger and took her winnings as she strode outside.

"Shizune!" she screamed once she got out the door. She could hear mumblings about how life was no fair and then scrabbling as a dark haired girl came around the side of the establishment. The girl, Shizune, was dressed in a black informal kimono. Shizune held reading scrolls Tsunade knew to be on the relation between nervous systems and chakra coils in her hands that made Tsunade scoff. "You know those will do you no good," Tsunade slurred. "You're just wasting your time. Everyone dies. They all DIE, no mat'er how much you learn!"

Shizune's eyes widened for a second before shaking her head at the statement. The scrolls were written by Tsunade herself for kami's sake! The thirteen year old was used to hearing the angry ramblings of a tipsy Tsunade however, so did her best to ignore the dark nature of them and the condescending tone. She had been with Tsunade for a while now, since right after the Second Ninja World War ended. Shizune was just three years old when Tsunade came and snatched her up, told her they were leaving and it was her responsibly to look after Shizune.

Shizune was grateful to Tsunade, most of the time anyway. Despite all of the bad things Tsunade sometimes sprouted out her mouth, she still taught Shizune everything she asked to learn, bought her any books she wanted, and made sure all of her needs were met. And even when she was left alone outside a sneezy gambling bar, Shizune knew that Tsunade, no matter how drunk, would always come to her rescue if need be.

Tsunade waited for Shizune to respond or argue, but no response came. She gave a small grunt of what could be satisfaction or disappointment before she turned and began walking down the street. She heard the dutiful footsteps of Shizune running to fall in step behind her when another noise made her pause.

The doors to the gambling den flew open with a bang and she slightly turned her head to see the mini commotion. The man who had drunkenly fell over his chair came running outside with a couple of henchmen along with a well-dressed man that looked to be the owner of the establishment. He was a small man, different from the others, bloated and spoiled from all the money he had made from his trade routes between Fire, Mist, and Cloud countries. The small man had moved some of his dealings inland in recent years and established a couple of businesses. Some were shady and others were perfectly legit. She knew of his reputation as she liked to do background checks on any place she laid her head or spent her money. It would be her "lucky" night that he would be here of all places the night she won an abundance of money.

"Stop right there, woman!" the man who had fallen over yelled to her. She complied, not out of fear, for she had nothing to fear of these men, but more out of resignation. She knew she would have to pay some of the debt she owed eventually. She was just hoping she could get away without paying for just a little bit longer. Turning fully, she stared at the man, ignoring the rest for now as Shizune, slightly annoyed and frightened at the possible outcome of the confrontation, moved behind her.

"What did you call me?" Tsunade asked threateningly. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to!" she screamed at the man menacingly. "Or are you too drunk to recognize the most formi…formimi…"

"Formidable, Lady Tsunade," Shizune spoke up from behind her in a tired voice.

Although a bit embarrassed, Tsunade still kept going like she did not hear Shizune correct her. "Formidable Shinobi of the Sannin!" she finished and stomped on the ground, causing a crack to appear and the earth to shake.

The man who fell took a small quivering step back before gathering a little courage. "Drunk?" the man who fell said indulgently. "You pushed my chair! I haven't drank a cup of sake all night! I was too busy watching you!"

Tsunade smirked at this. "Really?" she said pretending to try and remember. "No, that wasn't me. It had to be someone else who doesn't like you."

The crowd of men, or bodyguards perhaps, steered at that. One of them even had the audacity to pull out a poor excuse of a katana. But before anything more could be said or done, the real leader of their merry little group spoke up.

"Enough," the leader said confidently before stepping in front of the crowd. "Lady Tsunade," the man addressed her. "My name is Gato, and I am the owner of this place…"

"I know who you are," she interrupted rudely, not liking the silky way in which he spoke. As a business man, it probably worked wonders on other people, but not on her.

He seemed to bristle some at being interrupted, but to her deep dislike he let it go, not confident enough to start a fight of words that could easily escalate into a brawl. Gato instead put on another fake smile and spread his hands.

"Forgive my presumption in your lack of knowledge, Lady Tsunade," he said. "However, if you are that informed, then you will of course know that you have an outstanding debt with me that will need to be paid. I can only let it go so far, my lady, as it is a large and growing sum."

Tsunade bristled. "Outstanding?" she said angrily. "I've only been coming here for two weeks! My debt shouldn't be so large that you want to call it in!"

Gato chuckled. "My lady," he began. "I'm afraid this is not the only establishment that I own that you have outstanding bills in. You see, I have recently purchased a couple different establishments in Tea Country, many of them here in Aracha. As it is, you owe several of these places a lot of money," he finished with a predatory smile.

Although outwardly she gave no indication that she was bested, she knew that she really did not have a choice but to pay up. The large town of Aracha was her favorite place to stay in all of Tea Country, but she recognized that this man could have easily bought out many of the low priced places she liked to visit and stay. And because of her Reserve status as a Konoha Shinobi, if her debt to one person or company was large enough, then that person or company could go to the Daimyo and request the debt be paid. It would be embarrassing to the Kage and the village, as it would make it seem like the Kage could not control their shinobi. At that point, her status of good faith as a Reserve Shinobi could easily be revoked and she could be made to go back to the village. If she refused, she could be classified as a nukenin.

She enjoyed her easy going life and did not want to be chased around the elemental nations by S-Class shinobi looking for a big score.

Outwardly, she kept her angry demeanor. "Fine," she began as she put her head down, pretending to look into the pouch of money but really just wanting to hide the pout she had on her face. "And just how large is my debt to you?" she asked before looking back up.

They all had terrified looks on their faces. Shocked at the utter fear on their faces, she thought she may be tipsier than she realized if she could not disguise the emotion of her facial expressions. Snorting, she was about to mock them on their fear when she heard Shizune speak up behind her.

"Ho-Hokage-sama?" Shizune stuttered in surprise. Looking back, Tsunade saw the ragged appearance of Minato and instantly her already fading buzz went out of the window knowing that he was the real reason for the men's fright. Minato was a kid (a kid in her eyes anyway) who always looked prominent and had an outward appearance of calm and sophistication. But at this moment, his blood stained clothes and no-nonsense demeanor could easily be translated to, defy me equals death.

"Where the heck did he come from?"

"He just appeared out of nowhere!"

Tsunade heard Gato's men speak in terrified voices before Gato's own confident one rose above them. "Relax, gentlemen," Gato said to them before speaking to the Hokage. "I apologize for my comrades and I if we offended you by engaging with one of your Shinobi without your permission, Hokage-sama. I meant no ill will by it." Tsunade heard Gato speak with half an ear and was slightly impressed by how confident the man could be in the presence of someone like Minato, whose global reputation was larger than any Konoha shinobi since the First Hokage. "I will of course file the required paperwork to your office to gain back…"

"That'd be unnecessary," Minato said in a voice that she could tell was challenging to maintain control. "Konoha will reach out to you as soon as we are able. As of now, I need you to walk away. I have business with the Lady Tsunade."

Gato bowed in respect. "Of course, Hokage-sama," Gato said before turning and walking back into the gambling bar, his entourage right behind him. Any spectators still present had the forward thinking of scrambling away as well.

Sighing, knowing that she was about to be told she was needed back at the village, she mentally prepared for a fight. It was a fight that she may not be able to win, both legally and physically, but she was going to do her best anyway.

"Shizune," Minato started before she could say anything, his voice much calmer suddenly as he closed his eyes. "Go back to your room and stay there until I send someone from Anbu to escort you back home."

Shizune gave no protest, her reddened cheeks morphing to slightly pale as she realized something serious was going on. "H-Hai, Hokage-sama," Shizune said with a stuttered bow before looking at Tsunade pleadingly, begging her with her eyes not to do anything stupid.

Normally Tsunade would have protested, but even she knew that something crazy was going on. Her luck tonight had guaranteed that there would be three bad things coming her way. Gato being at the very place she was when she won the money was the first twist of bad luck. Minato showing up had to be the second. Who knew what the third child of trouble would bring.

If Minato was there himself, and if she had to fight to stop herself from going back to Konoha, it was best for Shizune not to be around as she might get caught up in the battle. As strong as she was, she knew that Jiraiya's brat had become something altogether different. The Yellow Flash, they called him. Some said that he had single handedly won the Third Great Ninja War. It was not true, of course. She could attest to the fact that no war could be won by one person. But she could also recognize that he had been one of the major reasons why the Third Great Ninja War, which was the longest ninja war ever, finally ended.

She knew about him killing a thousand shinobi and Daimyo Samurai in one single battle. And when the Tsuchikage panicked and withdrew the Scorch and Boil Kill Squads from Kazi no Kuni, Minato and Fukagu Uchiha had been the ones to ambush them and kill every single member, with the exception of their Jinchuriki. This was the man who was picked to be the Fourth Hokage by the Third Hokage himself, even over the Third Hokage's favorite student, who was another one of the Sanin.

As he opened his eyes and she looked at him and saw his pupils had shifted horizontal and the pigment around his eyes had changed to red and yellow, she was reminded of the day Jiraiya had found her just to brag about how great a teacher he was. He had finally taught Minato to master the lost art of the Toad Sage, something even Jiraiya could not do. She realized she had made a critical error in giving him time to change into that form.

"I'm not going back, kid," she said fully facing him. She was prepared for almost any come back, but not the one that Minato gave.

Even with his changed eyes, she could see a sadness overtake them. "Jiraiya is dead," he said bluntly, and she felt her whole axis change. She staggered, as though someone had hit her with a brick unexpectedly.

"What…What are you talking about?" she said, her voice in denial. "I just saw him a few days ago. He was bragging about you! There's no way that pervert could be killed! Not by anyone! I know him. No one could sneak up on him. And if he was in a fight, he would have found a way to slick past anyone and come to Konoha for aide!"

Minato just shook his head. "Konoha was attacked," Minato said, direct and to the point as always. "Someone attacked us as Kushina was giving birth. They completely caught us off guard. I don't know how Jiraiya knew about the attack as he was in another country when last we spoke. Perhaps his spies gave him some information? But when this person extracted the Nine-tails from Kushina, Jiraiya showed up and sacrificed himself to seal it," he finished with sad tint to his voice.

Tsunade's head shook in disbelief. Everyone around her eventually died. That was just how it has always been. From her uncles, to her brother, to Dan, and now to her old teammate, they were all…

"SELF-SACRIFICING IDIOTS!" she screamed out loud. "All of them, every single one of them. And you're the worst, Jiraiya! Always so happy and perverted and uplifting. Jiraiya… you idiot…" she finished lamely before falling to her knees.

She was there for hardly a minute before Minato spoke up again. "I'm sorry for your loss, but we don't have enough time to grieve," he said with a firm voice. "We need to get back to Konoha." She would have been more sensitive to the fact that he had just suffered a major lose as well and more sensible to reason if she herself was not so distraught, but that was not the case.

Minato took a couple of steps forward, and she reacted on pure instinct. As fast as she could, she condensed the chakra in her legs and shot at Minato with a scream, the force of which left other cracks on the ground. Even before she could get close to him however, she saw him perform a hand sign before a literal tear in the air opened up in front of him. She was not able to stop herself from plunging right through the tear in space. She hit her shoulder on solid ground before flipping back to her feet.

"Minato!" she screamed in a rage as the tear in space closed up before she could jump back over. She was so outraged she did not look around at her surroundings, her peripheral vision enough to tell her she was surrounded on all sides by earth. Gathering chakra to her fist, she was about to lunge at the wall in front of her to punch her way out when the sound of a baby's cry reached her ears. Stopping, her rage filled eyes morphed into ones of confusion as she turned around. There, in the center of the large room, was a feverish Kushina, a blonde miniature version of Minato right next to her screaming his head off.

'This is the real reason I never had a child,' was her first thought. Her second was how the hell Kushina was alive if someone extracted the Kyubi from her?

"Lady Tsunade," Kushina spoke up softly from her place on the ground. She was wrapped in a blanket, and her skin was so pale it looked white. Sweat was soaking through the blanket, and to Tsunade's trained eyes she knew Kushina was suffering painfully despite Kushina's calm voice. If the nine tails was extracted, it was a miracle that Kushina was not dead yet.

"Kushina," Tsunade said hesitantly.

Kushina smiled a pained smile. "It's good to see you again," she said before a cough fit hit her.

"Is there a way to heal her," the saddened voice of Minato materialized just as he did next to Kushina. Scooping up the blonde baby before kneeling down, he looked at Kushina with tears involuntarily coming to his eyes, which Tsunade noticed had reverted back to its normal blue. The baby seemed to instinctively know his father was there as he quieted. Minato began combing Kushina's sweat soaked hair off of her forehead as best he could while Kushina's hand tried to escape the blanket and touch his face, but she did not have enough strength or energy to do so and quit trying. The whole scene was too touching, and Tsunade began to get her own flashbacks to the night Dan had died in her arms.

"Don't worry about me," Kushina said, tears in her eyes as well. "Please, check Naruto. He's been crying," she tried to finish before another fit of coughs prevented it.

"Shhh, my love," Minato said before standing up without looking away from the love of his life. "What do you need? Just name it," he asked.

Tsunade just shook her head. "Kid," she began, her voice much more sympathetic then before. "I don't know if there's anything I can do. There's never been a recorded case of tailed beast extraction where someone has lived. It's amazing she's still alive," she finished with a sad look directed at Kushina, who had closed her eyes.

Minato did not take his eyes off Kushina. "No one who tried had you there, Lady Tsunade," he argued. "She's an Uzumaki, whose life force is much stronger than normal. Even now I can tell her body is trying to repair the damage caused. She just needs a little help, and I know you can give it to her."

Tsunade sighed. Yes, she knew that Uzumaki's had strong life forces, but even taking that into consideration the chances were slim to none that Kushina would live, with or without her help. When a tailed beast was extracted, the chakra burst that is released pulses throughout the human body and burns through the chakra coil membranes. The chakra then begins to destroy a person's body from the inside. It is very similar to chakra poisoning. Whereas chakra poisoning causes organ failure, muscle atrophy and fatigue over a longer period of time, chakra flare ups of this magnitude happen so suddenly and quickly that the body's defense has no time to isolate and fight the chakra destroying it. Chakra flare ups of this scale usually result in instant death.

"Kid, the chances of her surviving…" she began to explain to him but he cut her off.

"But there is a chance," he said as he looked at her with an intense look in his eyes. "The risks don't matter, Lady Tsunade. She will die if you don't try anyway."

Deep down she knew what he said was the truth, but she really did not want another death on her hands. "Kid, there is just no way," she told him. She felt like crap, but it was for the best.

Minato looked at her for what she felt was an eternity before he spoke. "The First would have tried, the Second would have tried, the Third would have, even your brother and Dan would have given all they have to try and save her," he said to her harshly. "They gave their very lives so you and the rest of the village could live on and protect the future of the village, and you would stomp on their sacrifices and love because of your own fear? How can you continue living with yourself?"

Tsunade felt like a bolder fell on her chest. How dare he? "You ask for my help at the same time as you insult me? You don't know anything! I know who and what I am! I live for one purpose now and one only. Shizune. That's all I have left in this world, and soon she'll probably die on me too!"

"So Dan's dream means nothing to you," he interrupted her rant with quiet steel in his voice. "His dream was peace, but he also believed in your dream. He petitioned the Third with one of your proposals, one that could keep all of the Konoha Shinobi as safe as can be."

Her eyes opened wide at that. "The Medical Corps Initiative," she said quietly. "How did you know?"

He shook his head as though it was a dumb question, and in retrospect she knew it was. "I'm the Hokage," he answered. "I'll make sure that the Initiative is enacted, even sign an executive order to get it passed the counsel if need be with you at the head. But you have to at least try. Jiraiya gave his life so that we could have a chance to survive this attack and live. Don't make his sacrifice go in vain, Lady Tsunade. His love for this village and its future, his love for you and me. That meant something," he finished with an almost pleading tone.

She looked down in shame, her heart breaking at the truth of his words. She knew what he said was true. She had given up on her dream. All of the people she had loved had perished for the sake of the village. And here she was, doing nothing but drinking, gambling, and wandering aimlessly. They had never given up. The least she could do was try to save as many lives as she could.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back up with more confidence then she had in a while. "Very well," she said to Minato. "I'll do it. I'll need a sanitized room, Shizune, and at least three others who know at least the basics in chakra coil repair."

Minato's shoulders seemed to shrink in relief, and she noticed just how tense with worry of her saying no he was. "Alright," he said as he took a deep breath as well. "I'll go get Shizune. In the meantime, this will lead you to the Hokage private quarters in the Shinobi hospital. Once there, you'll find a couple of medic Nin that will meet your needs," he finished as he held up a hand sign with one hand. A rip in the fabric of space appeared next to Kushina, the same kind that brought her here. "Please take Kushina and Naruto with you," he asked as he laid down Naruto next to his mother. Naruto instantly began squirming again.

"Minato," Kushina whispered softly in worry. "You've spent enough chakra. Too much…"

"Shhh," Minato said tenderly back as he kissed her forehead. "I'll be fine," he assured her as he got back to his feet. Baby Naruto immediately began crying.

Tsunade walked over and easily but gently lifted both Kushina and the baby, who began to cry even louder to her great annoyance. Looking at Minato, she could see just how exhausted he really was and understood Kushina's concern. "Needless to say, be quick about it," she said to him before walking through the portal. She heard a snort behind her before the tear in space closed.