PLEASE READ! Okay so this chapter is gonna be a little extra long. It's me highlighting past events and the history of this fanfiction. This chapter is essential to understanding Naruto and her past. It highlights a lot of why she is who she is and it defines the relationships between her and her comrades and family. It's going to seem a little disjointed because it's not going to flow forward necessarily. The timeline of the "memories" is going to bounce around from "recent" to "childhood". While I suppose you could, I would not recommend skipping this chapter. I love this story and I love the characters, and I hope you will too. This is all basically to make sure that you guys are able to understand the connections and seemingly inconsequential moments that actually mean a lot to this fic. Thank you for taking the time to read this A/N, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
It was once said that ninjas are The Ones Who Endure. Endure loss. Endure pain. Through all the rage and sadness, a ninja will endure. This is something that both Namikaze Naruto and Hatake Kakashi know all too well. It is something that both go to great strides to teach their students. They try their best to impart to those students that it doesn't matter how weak or strong you are. The one who endures is the one who will succeed. Of course, when their students think that success means "to win" they correct them with firm words and actions. To succeed does not mean to win—we're looking at you Menma, Mamoru— it means to learn. It also means to protect. To never leave your comrades behind. It means to step up to the plate and learn how to protect your precious people. That, Kakashi always says, is what it means To Endure.
Hokages Office, shortly after the death of Rin, Naruto: 5; Kakashi: 13
Kakashi has gotten nearly no sleep the last few days since he'd... since Rin's death. You couldn't see it for his gloves, but his right hand was nearly scrubbed raw. Every time he looked at his hand, he could see his teammates blood staining the skin. He wondered if he would ever stop seeing her blood there.
THUD! CRACK! The office doors were thrown open with such force that they cracked some of the dry wall in the office all the way up to the ceiling. Looking back, Kakashi expected to see a very pregnant red headed woman, hair flailing about in her anger, but instead found open air, until his gaze trailed downwards to find a bright head of golden hair, the bangs of which covering the eyes he knew were mismatched blue and violet.
"Naruto? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Minato asked his daughter, and soon to be eldest child.
"Papa," Naruto looked up, tears streaming down her face, leaving streaks, "tell me it's not true... tell me. Tell me she's not. She can't be gone!" At this Naruto fell to her knees, anger receding, and in its place an unbearable emptiness.
Kakashi, surprisingly, was the one to step forward. He kneeled down in front of Naruto and slowly reached out, hesitating only slightly before pulling her towards him in a tight embrace.
Naruto, for all she was worth, immediately grabbed onto the front of Kakashi's flak with a vice like grip. She let out the sobs she had been holding back, simply burying her face into the crook of Kakashi's neck. She let out all the pain from the loss of her big sister figure. Rin had always been just a little more special to Naruto than the other two: she was a girl, after all, and Rin was one of the first people she remembered at all besides Kakashi when he was Minato's only student.
Rin was the first person outside her parents and the Uchiha main family to take an interest in the real her. The villagers were all super nice and once her father was selected for Hokage, they even called her Hime, but that's all she was to them. The Yellow Flashes daughter, the Yondaime's daughter.
But Rin always took extra time out of her day to talk to Naruto or take her shopping for clothes, or to get sweets or ramen with her. Rin was the big sister that Naruto didn't have, the one that showed her how to gossip (because Kami knows, Kushina tries, but she just can't be quiet about things to save her life), she showed her that you can be gentle and warm, yet still be just as deadly.
Naruto, to say it simply, loved Rin.
"How... How did it happen? And don't lie to me! I want to know. I can handle it." Naruto finally got out around her slowing hiccuping sobs.
She heard Kakashi mumble something so low that she could barely hear him.
Naruto pulled back just enough to look at his face, only to see his mask soaked from the tears that were silently falling from his downcast eyes, his borrowed Sharingan revealed to her now, not for the first time.
"What?" She whispered, ignoring the loud clearing of her fathers throat.
Kakashi choked a little, not wanting the girl to hate him and for him to lose her too, but he owed her this. He owed her an explanation for why her adopted big sister wasn't coming back, "I'm sorry!"
Kakashi reached up, placing his hands around her small wrists, and he realized just how fragile she looked in this moment. She always seemed so big; he sometimes forgot that she was 8 years younger than him. She was so intelligent, and while having a closer personality to her father than her mother, she just had this larger than life quality that made her seem so infallible to him. It was part of why he hadn't wanted to get close to her back when he was her fathers only student, but seeing her like this now? She wasn't even like this when Obito died. She had cried, yes, she had raged! But it was more like a blow to her, than what this was.
She looked like something inside her had ruptured.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto. It's my fault. It's... all my—"
"Don't be a jackass Kakashi!" Naruto yelled, shaking him via the death grip she still had on his flak.
"Namikaze Naruto! Language!" Minato tried to break into the moment, reprimanding his daughter. He had no idea where she was getting that kind of language from, but he didn't want his precious little girl repeating it. Even if she was right at the moment...
"It couldn't be your fault! I don't even have to know what happened to know that it's not your fault!" Naruto continued along as if she didn't hear her father at all.
"You shouldn't be saying things that you know nothing about," Kakashi said quietly, almost gently, "I was the one who did it, Naruto. I— my chidori. My chidori—!" He gripped her wrists just a little tighter, but not tight enough to hurt her. He wouldn't dare ever hurt her, she was one of the only precious people he had left.
Minato's breath hitched as he watched the scene playing out before him. He didn't want Naruto to know the details, but he could understand Kakashi's own need for her to know. For her to judge for herself whether Kakashi was right or wrong in blaming himself.
Minato prayed.
He prayed that his daughter would be the one to knock some sense into his wavering student. He prayed that their bond would strengthen and they could help each other through these losses. Of course, it better not strengthen that way. There was still no way that Minato would ever let some boy near his little Naru. Of course his thoughts were kind of ridiculous at the moment. She was only five. 'But she won't always be!' He thought to himself.
Minato was brought out of such thoughts by a resounding SLAP. He watched as one of his student's hands went up to cup his offended cheek, his eyes wide and staring straight at the enraged girl before him.
At the same time a certain redhead took up the open doorway, slightly out of breath, her violet eyes wide and gazing at her daughter before darting up to look at her husband, who put one finger up to his lips in a silencing gesture. He was the only one to notice her presence, even the silver haired young Jonin was too enraptured by her daughters anger to even notice Kushina standing in the doorway.
Kushina nodded before returning her attention to the two children.
"How dare you," Naruto began saying, making a lead weight settle into the stomachs of the other occupants of the room, "How dare you!"
And just as Kakashi's head bowed in utter shame, Minato and Kushina both stepped forward, ready to pull Naruto away before she could cause more damage than good.
This, however, went utterly ignored by the youngest in the room, "First of all! Don't you ever tell me not to say something I believe in with my heart!" Every pair of eyes turned toward Naruto once again, "And second of all!" Naruto released her other hand from Kakashi's flak and lunged forward, tackling Kakashi so that instead of kneeling, he was plopped on his ass, and Naruto was on her knees in between his opened legs, her arms circled around his neck tightly, but making sure not to choke him.
"Naruto..." Kakashi managed to get out around his surprise.
"Stop! Stop hurting yourself! I can't— I won't lose you too!" The five year old girl called out, and it was obvious she was crying again, but there was a new facet to her voice. A vulnerable determination that had never colored her voice before making its debut in the venerable moment.
"Naruto! This isn't something that you can just ignore. You can't—" Kakashi finally got enough wits about him to try and act angry with the girl. He couldn't understand why she was hugging him. He couldn't understand why she still cared! She should hate him! He had basically just told he'd killed her sister for Kami's sake!
"No Kakashi! There has to be more to it! You wouldn't do something like that. You may have been a cold bastard but you would never hurt your own teammates. You'd never hurt Rin. Not after we lost Obito!" Naruto cried out, giving Kakashi pause, before the tension in his body melted away, and he simply went limp in Naruto's arms.
"But I did. I did hurt her. She's not coming home and it's my own fault, Naruto. I'm the reason she's gone forever." And he was. He could still feel his lightning covered hand piercing her heart.
"I believe that you believe that, Kashi. I believe that maybe you really even did deliver the final blow. But... but I don't believe that you did it on purpose. That you wanted to hurt her. I'll never ever believe that, and even if I have to follow you around every minute of every day and tell you that over and over and over again until you forgive yourself, I'll do it. I won't lose you to this, Hatake Kakashi. I won't let you hurt yourself because I forgive you!"
And suddenly, Kakashi could breathe. The pain was still there. Oh, he knew it would always be there. A stubborn reminder of his losses. But hearing this girl who had loved Rin with all her heart forgiving him made the air a little easier to take in.
He wasn't going to lose her. She didn't hate him. Those two thoughts kept echoing back and forth in his mind before it finally truly sunk in.
He wasn't going to lose her.
She was still hugging him, and he finally wound his arms around the tiny bundle of blonde and determination and pulled her closer. It was that moment that he knew she was his last lifeline. The anchor that connected him to his last shreds of sanity.
A loud sniffle and click was heard in the room before the two were further engulfed by a flurry of vibrant red hair and a white cloak with red flames.
Uchiha Clan District, the Night Itachi Killed His Clan; Naruto: 12, Itachi: 13, Sasuke: 7
Kitsune was moving as fast as she could, trying her best to ignore all the bodies lying lifelessly on the ground around her. She didn't know what exactly was happening, but she knew that Weasel, her fellow ANBU Captain, hadn't reported for duty that night.
Weasel was never late.
That single, unchanging fact was why she had put her team on red alert and sent them to notify the rest of the ANBU and Jonin forces. Something had to be extremely wrong for Weasel not to report for duty, and considering the Coup that he had told her about his clan planning...
Well, Kitsune was worried. And it appeared that she had damn good reason to be, seeing as the district looked like it has rained blood on the streets. The deep red liquid was splashed across every possible surface that she could see.
There was so much that she would be having a much harder time keeping her footing if not for the chakra she applied to the soles of her feet.
"Kitsune! What the hell were you thinking coming here with no back up?" Kitsune glanced over to see another ANBU. He had wiry silver hair that defied gravity, and a dog mask covering all his features but his eyes.
"Inu. I told my team that their priority was to alert the rest of the forces before receiving follow up orders from Hokage-Sama while I take immediate action and scout ahead. Just like protocol states."
"You should have at least brought a teammate or a fellow Captain." Inu huffed, not relenting in his frustration.
"Well you're here now, aren't you?" Kitsune replied stiffly.
Inu simply huffed, but they continued to the main house of the Uchiha Clan in heavy silence.
The blood itself no longer bothered her. Neither did the bodies. During her time in ANBU she had seen plenty of death. Dealt it herself, even. Her own mother had begged her not to join the ANBU Corps, but she had anyways.
She had promised her best friend and only remaining teammate that she would follow him all the way to the top. It was his dream to become the Hokage and while she had no ideations for it, very much unlike her otouto, she had told her best friend that she would do everything in her power to aid him in his dreams. She believed in him with all her heart. She loved him like he was her long lost twin, and she knew he felt the same towards her.
And so, she worked to stay by his side always. She graduated second highest of their academy class, she got promoted to Chunin and then Jonin the same day as him, and when he joined the ANBU Corps, she followed his lead. She even became a Captain shortly after him.
These were the thoughts running through her head as she came upon the most gruesome sight of all.
Itachi standing over his terrified brother, blocking Sasuke's view of Itachi running his katana through their fathers heart. Kitsune could not see Itachi's face, but she could sense the disturbances in his chakra that spelled out trouble. Disturbances like the ones she could sense coming from Itachi only presented themselves during times of extreme emotions. There was no telling what those emotions were, but she knew it made him dangerous.
"Uchiha Itachi! Put your weapon on the ground and surrender to arrest!" Inu called out, his voice ringing across the utter silence.
"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible." Itachi replied, much more calmly than his chakra was indicating he should be as he dropped his fathers lifeless body to the ground.
"Why would you do this Itachi?! What made you kill your entire clan?" Kitsune tried. She just couldn't understand. They had a plan! Shisui—
"Wait! Itachi, where's Shisui? There was a plan—" Kitsune hesitated at Itachi's small cringe, though his back was still turned to them, and the spike in his chakra.
"Shisui is dead. He committed suicide earlier tonight." Itachi toned, recovering almost immediately from his small show of emotion.
When Itachi finally turned around, and Inu caught sight of Itachi's Sharingan, he gasped. Itachi's Sharingan looked like a curved three pointed shuriken, and tears of blood ran down his face.
Inu immediately averted his eyes to the tip of Itachi's nose, knowing better than to try and keep eye contact. He heard Kitsune's gasp of shock beside him, and he remembered his promise to his Sensei. To protect her, her brother, and her mother. He remembered the day she found out about Obito. The day she found out about Rin.
Inu's thoughts ran amuck for a moment before he cleared his head enough to speak, "Itachi, I'll ask of you one more time, before force becomes required: surrender now. We can still help you. You could still be found not-guilty in the investiga—"
"There is no point, Inu-San. I am guilty and there is nothing more that needs to be said." As soon as he finished that, he made a small movement towards Sasuke.
With a shout of "Don't look in his eyes!" From Kitsune to Sasuke, Inu and Kitsune both leapt into action. Kitsune darting towards Sasuke to get him away from the battle she knew would ensue, and Inu moving to engage Itachi, to attempt to either arrest the Uchiha himself or keep him in the area until other ANBU arrived to provide aid.
Had it not been for Inu, Kitsune wouldn't have gotten to Sasuke in time. She knew Itachi's skill set intimately and knew without a doubt that Itachi is faster than her when she couldn't use her fathers technique.
Picking Sasuke up bridal style, she darted off towards a small grouping of chakra signatures within the district that had one chakra signature that she was familiar with. But there was another that worried her. It was powerful and strangely familiar. Like she had once known who it belonged to, by no longer did.
When she came upon the small group of survivors, she was thrilled to find Mikoto standing protectively in front of a group of toddlers and academy children.
She was not so thrilled to see a tall man in a black cloak with red clouds decorating it facing the small group of survivors.
"Sasuke-Kun, if you would please join your mother and the others," Kitsune said, hiding the relief and irritation she felt by keeping her voice level.
"Mother!" Sasuke called out to Mikoto, who's face melted in relief and joy at seeing her child unharmed, before pushing him behind her to join the other children huddled away in the corner behind her.
"Oooooh, how heart warming, eh ANBU-San?" The figure in the cloak said, his only eye showing through the swirled orange mask on his face, Kitsune's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, Sharingan spinning lazily.
It was not this however, that gave Kitsune such a sense of deja vú. It was his voice. It sounded familiar yet different, and she could not place it for the life of her.
"I am sorry to seem rude, shinobi-San, but Mikoto-San? Does his voice sound familiar to you?" Kitsune asked without once taking her eyes off of the masked man.
Mikoto's eyes widened, she could feel that she had subconsciously activated her Sharingan when the unfamiliar Uchiha had shown up, but now that the ANBU-disguised Naruto had mentioned it, the voice was familiar. Painfully so.
"ANBU-San, I do recognize it. It... it sounds like him." Mikoto didn't say his name, but she was sure Minato's one daughter would realize who she meant. He was her father's student after all, and she was her father's daughter.
Kitsune watched the masked man tense up. If she could guess, he didn't want anyone to know who he was and for some reason that made her want to poke and prod him some more about it.
Wait.
HIM?!
That just couldn't be though, "N-no." Kitsune whispered, "No. No no no! That's not possible." Kitsune snarled, "He's dead, he's gone!" Realizing she broke her composure for a moment, Kitsune quickly reined herself back together again. At least... at least it was her, and not Inu who was here. At least she would be able to break it to him personally that someone was impersonating his best friend.
Mikoto and the children could hear the heartbreak in the ANBU's voice no doubt. And so could the masked Obito. There was a small twinge in his chest, seeing the pain that he had put his honorary Imouto through, but he had to do this. He had to bring peace to the world. Damned the consequences.
There was a loud crash and then Inu and Itachi were there, Inu flying through the air, only to be caught by Kitsune releasing a pair of golden chains from herself, bringing Inu back to a standing position in front of the masked man impersonating Obito.
Itachi went to stand at the masked mans side and before anyone could move, they were gone in a swirl of black.
Kitsune heard Mikoto cry out, and only had time to look before Mikoto was on her knees, clutching her only remaining son to herself as they both wailed their losses into the night.
Inu and Kitsune glanced at each other before taking off. The medics and normal Jonin forces had arrived. They were no longer needed. At least, not their ANBU selves.
Konhagakure no Sato, the Night of the Kyuubi Attack, November 10
Naruto: 5, Menma: newborn, Kakashi: 13
The foulest chakra Naruto had ever felt was flushing out the peaceful night in her village. Tonight was supposed to have been a good night. The night her otouto was born. The night she finally added a new precious person. Heck! She and Itachi hadn't even had the chance to join the academy yet!
They were supposed to last year but just as they were about to attend, Sandaime-jiji changed his mind about letting them!
Naruto growled as she ran through the chaotic streets. Her father was currently fighting the Kyuubi and trying to push it away from the village. She had absolute faith that he would succeed.
"Naru-chan?!"
Naruto stopped and looked over to see Kakashi standing about three feet away from her, "Kashi! Take me to mama!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi said chidingly, "You should be evacuating like the rest of the children and civilians."
"I won't leave my family behind! My mom and otouto are all by themselves right now and I can't leave them like that!" Naruto exclaimed, and Kakashi was thrown back to the day she had decided to call him a Baka for the first time, for some odd reason.
"Alright, Naru-chan, I'll take you to them. Hop on my back and hold on tight, alright?"
"Alright!"
As Kakashi roof hopped toward Naruto's chosen destination, he had to fight the lead weight resting at the bottom of his stomach. Something bad was going to happen tonight. Something worse than even the Kyuubi's escape.
"Hey, Kashi?" He heard Naruto's voice sound out just barely over the wind. He turned to look at her with his revealed Sharingan eye, "do... you feel it too? Like, like something horrible is coming?"
Kakashi chuckled nervously, not wanting to worry the girl any more than she obviously already was, "Worse than the Kyuubi attacking the village you mean? I'm sure things can only get better from here Naru-chan." He tried hard to reassure her, or maybe himself even.
As if contradicting his efforts, there was another roar from the Kyuubi.
Naruto simply hummed in the affirmative, trying desperately to assuage the knots twisting her stomach.
After a few more minutes the pair arrived in a clearing where they saw Kushina standing next to a makeshift crib or alter, leaning heavily on it and gazing at a bundle of blue.
As soon as Kushina heard footsteps coming toward her and her son she took up a defensive stance, only to see a blur of silver and golden hair running towards her. She relaxed almost immediately, dropping to her knees to welcome her five year old daughter and her companion into her arms.
She hugged the two tightly before releasing them and checking them for any injuries. When she was finished she stood up to scold them both, "What are you two doing here! It's dangerous, and you two should already be in the evacuation tunnels dattebane!"
She noticed that Kakashi at least had the good grace to look ashamed, but Naruto looked no such way. Her daughter was wearing a defiant look that Kushina had seen seldom times, as her daughter usually did as she was told.
"No! You said it yourself Mama. We protect our precious people and we stay by their sides during hard times. I'm not leaving you guys, and don't blame Kakashi. I made him bring me!"
Kakashi spluttered and Kushina smiled slightly. Power and authority wise, Naruto couldn't make really anyone do anything, but her daughter had a way of making people do as she says nonetheless.
"Alright. But when your father gets here with the Kyuubi to deal it, you two need to make sure you stay out of the way. You're not fuuinjustu experts and would probably do more harm than good if you try helping." Kushina said, relenting somewhat to her daughters desires, "Do you want to meet Menma now?"
As the two youngest approached the alter with the sleeping baby on it, the first thing Kakashi noticed was the vibrant red hair that matched his mothers to a T. The second thing he noticed was the presence of three whisker-like marks on the baby's face, "Uh, Kushina-San? What are those marks on his cheeks? Is he alright?"
Kushina waved her hand in a 'who cares?' Gesture before replying, "I have no clue. But they are kind of cute aren't they -ttebane?"
Naruto however looked oddly at her otouto, as if contemplating something very deeply. Kakashi chuckled, "Hey Naru-hime, what are you thinking about over there?"
Naruto took a moment to reply, her thoughtful gaze drifting towards her mother then back down to the bundle, "Hey mama, do you think he'll have your verbal tick too?"
Kakashi guffawed a few times before letting a belly laugh out. He knew he shouldn't, but he just couldn't help it. Five year old Naruto was just too entertaining when she decided to voice her thoughts.
It was Kushinas turn to sputter at what Naruto said, "Kami I hope not! I hate this stupid thing-ttebane!"
And then yet another blonde joined the mix in the form of Minato. And he was pissed, "What do you two think you're doing here! You need to leave before—!"
There was a deafening roar that seemed to vibrate the very bones of the fields occupants. Baby Menma began crying, his wails attempting to rival that of the being who's goals were to tear their family asunder.
Minato wasted no time in beginning the seals which he prepared for his son and wife. Luckily the man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara hadn't fully succeeded in releasing the Kyuubi. He had only managed to release the yang half of the beasts chakra before being forced to flee from Minato. That meant that Kushina would at least live, if only much weaker than before.
Naturally Minato's attention couldn't be wholly on the Kyuubi as he drew the seals on his sons stomach. So little did he realize that Kyuubi had recovered from his blow faster than anticipated and began to run towards their location.
The other occupants of the field were terrified. Naruto, however, could feel something welling up within her. A feeling of heated anger and desperation surfacing in her mind. She wanted to protect her family. She needed to stop that monster from hurting them! She knew that she wasn't powerful or skilled like her parents or Kakashi, but she refused to just watch her precious people die!
Kushina noticed it first as she was preparing to use her chains to hold down the Kyuubi. Her daughter had always had large chakra reserves. Uzumaki large. Of course, Naruto was her daughter, so it made sense. But at the moment her usually calm chakra was spiking, as if it was rioting beneath her skin, to the point where even Kushina could feel it.
Kushina knew what was going to happen next. That didn't stop her amazement though. Kushina has always wanted her daughter to have her bloodline limit. The Uzumaki Chakra Chains were not only beautiful, but extremely deadly.
Kakashi watched in horrified fascination as Naruto released her Chains for the first time with a gut wrenching scream. He watched as Naruto glared down at the Kyuubi, her chains plunging into the ground, alongside her mothers, he noticed passively, and the chains looked as if they were just flowing easily out of her. Unlike her mothers gold chains, Naruto's were a light shade of blue, which confused him somewhat. It wasn't like he had seen chains other than Kushina's, but he didn't expect that they'd be a different color than her mothers.
Kushina was also surprised by this, but let it go quickly as she noticed both hers and Naruto's chains wrap around Kyuubi, Naruto's chains wrapping around each leg to hold them in place and control them, while Kushina's wrapped around its torso and muzzle to keep him secured and preventing him from struggling too much. It also helped that wrapping its muzzle prevented any more beast bombs from flying.
Minato finally finished the seal on his sons stomach, and only finally noticed what was going on with his daughter. He saw that her chakra chains were different from Kushina's in color, but they all sprouted from the same places. Both females wore concentrated looks, and he could feel his pride as a father soar. He hoped that they would all live after this was over.
"Kakashi!" Minato called to his student, who turned wide eyed to look at his Sensei, "You're to protect those two until the sealing is done. Do you understand?"
"Yes Sensei!" Kakashi yelled back. At least now he had a mission. A task to accomplish. And he would make sure to do so with his life.
"The Eight Trigrams Seal is set!" Minato called out to his wife.
The Kyuubi heard this, and enraged by the thought of being sealed once more, managed to break free of Kushina and Naruto's chains, causing the two to cry out in pain and alarm.
Three things all seemed to happen at once for Kakashi, who had tried to jump in the way of the incoming set of claws.
The first was another body smacking into his so hard it jarred his bones and sent him flying.
The second was hitting two other bodies, ending his flight mid air, and taking all three of them to the ground.
The last, and by far the worst, was the sickening sound of flesh being pierced.
Naruto was the first to realize what had happened.
"PAPA!" She tried her best to wiggle out from between Kakashi and her mother.
Tears were streaming down her face, her body hurt, her heart hurt. She didn't want to believe that she was truly seeing her beloved father impaled on a giant claw, blood dripping from his mouth and the large wound, eyes half lidded as if weighing too heavy to keep open. She wanted to puke. She wanted to keep screaming. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare and go into the kitchen to see her father cooking breakfast in his goofy, frilly apron that her mother always teased him about.
"Get off of me! Get off! PAPA!" She just kept screaming.
Kushina was the next to notice. She heard her daughters screams, could feel them reverberate inside her heart. When she looked to see why, she gaped, wide-eyed, at her husband. Her dying husband. The father of her children. The love of her life.
Her heart utterly shattered the moment she laid eyes on what he had done to protect them. To protect Menma. She reached out, shoving Kakashi off of her, though he had also realized what had happened by this point, and had grabbed up Naruto, keeping both of them in place, staring at the paralyzing sight. Kushina took off, leaving her daughter with Kakashi.
"Minato!" She ran forward, even as exhausted as she was. Minato held out his hand and she haulted.
"Kushina... I'm just going to say—" he coughed, blood splattering from his mouth, a drop or two landing on Menma's whiskered cheeks, "I'm just going to say a few... last words. To Menma, okay?"
Kushina cried out, her face wetting with tears, "O-okay, Minato-kun. Just know.. know that we all—!" A sob wracked her entire form as she fell to her knees in front of her newborn and husband, "We LOVE YOU MINATO-KUN!"
Kakashi had no words. The only things he felt were agony and despair. He pulled Naruto tighter to himself. She was the anchor. The lifeline. What tied them all together and kept them that way. But he despaired. He was watching his Sensei die in front of him, the only thing keeping him from losing the last of his sanity was the little girl that had gone limp in his arms, resignation to her pain seeming to permeate her soul.
The only thing he could do was hold her tighter. He may be losing his Sensei, but she was losing her father right in front of her. And Kami knows that he can relate to that.
Minato could do nothing but look at his family. His daughter and student, only about 15 feet away, both looking as if their entire worlds were crumbling to dust beneath their feet. His wife, who's body shook with the force of her choked sobs. Her last words to him were filling his heart with final joy.
And then there was his son. Menma. The newborn baby was fast asleep, unaware of the pain and suffering surrounding his birth. Menma was the picture of total naivety and innocence.
"Menma... there's so much... I wanted to be there for—" Minato coughed once more, "so many things I wanted to show you. Make sure.. to find a girl to love, who's like your mother." He chuckled painfully and took a rattling breath. He could feel his lungs filling with his own blood, "listen to your Onesan, and your Mom. They're smart... and won't steer you wrong. Protect them, since I... can't. And no— no boys. For Naruto, yeah?"
Minato reached forward, placing his hand on his sons seal, making sure to push an extra bit of his chakra into it, knowing that by doing this, he would one day get to meet his son for real, "Fuuin."
Silence rang out in the field, only to be interrupted by the wails of a newborn.
The Kyuubi was sealed once more. But at what cost?
Two more people landed in the clearing, realizing they were too late. Kushina stood up, on shaky legs, and made her way to the sealing alter where her son was crying out his displeasure with the world.
"Shh, shh, Menma." Kushina choked out, "y-you're okay. M-mama has you, shh."
Sarutobi Hiruzen steped towards the new widow, unsure of what to think of what he's seeing.
Jiraiya, however, rushed past his teacher, stooping down in front of a despondent Kakashi and Naruto.
He notices that Kakashi is crying. What worries him more, however, is the dull eyes of his students eldest child.
"Ero-oji..." Jiraiya hears the hoarseness of her voice and his heart breaks for her. Just from her voice alone, he knows innately that she witnessed the entire thing. He pulls both of them into a tight hug.
"My husband is dead, Jiji. I want the bastard that caused this found. I want his head on a pike! I want him to pay for the fact that my son has to grow up never knowing his FATHER!"
Just so all of you know, I'm going to be re-writing the first three chapters. After going back and reading them again, I find that they aren't what I wanted them to be. So some major stuff is going to be getting switched up. For instance: I'm really going to make this worthy of being rated M, if this chapter wasn't obvious enough. Basically the first three chapters will retain most of what they are and what has happened so far, but with some extra tweaking. Also... for my little perverts out there, next chapter will have a Lemon. It's going to be my first though, so no judging! Of course constructive criticism is always welcome, please let me know your thoughts in the review section! Until next time!
Stay happy!