Hiruzen Sarutobi stared out at Konoha. Or rather, what was left of it.

Six hours ago, the Village Hidden in the Leaves had suffered what was perhaps the worst attack in recent memory since the Second Great Shinobi War countless years ago. The Nine-Tailed Fox, the Kyubi, had emerged from years of slumber within its jailer on the same day the child of the Four Hokage was born. Worse yet, in its rampage, it killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife, leaving the poor child without parents. Prior to that, the Nine-Tails attacked the village without relent.

Fifty-six percent of the village was destroyed and ruined. Estimates of how long it would take to repair the damage, nevermind the costs, was that it would take them four years to rebuild, perhaps even longer when the costs were factored in.

Eighteen hundred civilian casualties were reported, alongside two-hundred-and-fifty shinobi deaths.

All of that, within the span of six hours.

"This is a mess…"

Never had Hiruzen expected to find himself in this situation, donning the robes and hat of the Hokage once again. The loss of his people, both civilian and shinobi alike, were great wounds, with Minato and Kushina's death the worst of all. The village needed leadership to continue, and right now he was the only person who could do it.

And right now, he had to fix this clusterfuck of a mess in front of him.

Healing the damage the village had suffered would take time, but it was doable. It could be fixed at an easy pace. What couldn't be fixed was the fact that, at this moment, Konoha was at its most vulnerable. Despite being in times of peace, Sarutobi knew they were in what was a cold war. Other nations were building up their strength, raising shinobi to fight and die for them at the drop of a hat. Some even had those like Minato's child; people who carried monstrous beasts of incredible power within their bellies.

Konoha was attacked, and more importantly, it was vulnerable. It was easy prey for any neighboring country to take control of. Sarutobi would never allow that to happen, not so long as he drew breath.

He may not have liked his unexpected return to the position of village leader, but he would never allow Konoha to fall.

Currently, however, the defense of the village and maintaining its strength against the threat of other countries vying to take it over was not his concern. What was his concern was the small infant lying in on his desk, its adorable chubby face in blissful sleep in spine of what happened in front of it. Sarutobi stared at in a mixture of tender love and fear. Love for who the child belonged to, and fear of what may become of it.

The baby on his desk was a day old, yet its first day in this world was when it became cursed, for on its belly was the jail cell of the Nine-Tails.

"Oh, Minato…" Sarutobi mourned. "What have you done?"

Being a Hokage meant you had to make tough decisions. In Minato's case, he had to make a decision; protecting his family, or protecting the village. It was not an easy choice, and it was certainly not a choice Sarutobi would want anyone to experience. He couldn't even hazard to guess what kind of turmoil Minato went through when he made the decision to turn his own child into the Nine-Tails' host, but Minato made his decision, and now Sarutobi had to find some way to protect this child.

Minato's last request, as Sarutobi learned from Kakashi, was for his child to be seen as the village's hero. Obviously, the only way to do that was to announce that the Nine-Tails was sealed away inside of the child's body.

Sarutobi thought it was foolish, not to mention a quick way to sentence the child to death.

While he was certain there would be some in the village that would adhere to the late Fourth Hokage's wish, the rest sure as hell wouldn't. They were grieving; angry and mourning the loss of their loved ones. Families were destroyed last night, and Sarutobi knew that if he announced the child as the new host of the Nine-Tailed Fox, they would cry out for his death. He would not doubt the idea that there would be some that might even attempt to kill the infant themselves, even if he posted guards to protect the child at all times.

Perhaps the best way to ensure the child was seen as a hero, and in turn received proper care, was to announce who the child's parents were. The villagers, angry as they were, would not think twice to kill the child of the Fourth Hokage, much less disrespect their late leader's wishes that his son may be viewed as a hero. The child would be feared because of his status as the Nine-Tails' host, yes, but it was better than the alternative.

Did that mean he was safe? Far from it. Minato made countless enemies during his time as an active shinobi; Iwa most of all. He couldn't count the number of shinobi in Iwa that would do anything to get their revenge on the Fourth Hokage with both hands alone, and it was certainly no secret that the Tsuchikage was craving revenge himself. The day Minato became Hokage was one of great anguish to them, moreso now that the man was dead. They would most surely seek revenge by proxy by killing the Fourth Hokage's child, or perhaps turn the boy into a weapon.

Sarutobi was in a rock and a hard place. The village needed to know what had become of the Nine-Tailed Fox and of their leadership. They needed to know how much they lost and what they would have to do to regain those losses.

"This is exactly why I retired," Sarutobi groaned. He stared at the child's face for a moment longer, tracing his finger against the boy's cheek and smiled wryly. "It is a shame you could not have been born sooner, Naruto."

That was the boy's name. More specifically, it was the name of a character in a certain novel written by his former student.

Sarutobi's blood went cold and wondered if Jiraiya heard the news yet.

Once more, he sighed deeply and sank into his chair.

For hours, he sat alone in the room and wondered what was the best course of action. After a period of time passed, the old man finally made his decision and requested a messanger.

It was time for an old friend of his to pay his debt.

In the distant past, when the concept of shinobi villages had not touched the heads of dreamers, the lands that would one day come to be known as the Elemental Nations had once entered into a great conflict with the islands that lay outside its borders.

It was a period of war, death, and strife. Those who were born with chakra and taught to mold it into a weapon – the art of ninjutsu – fought with those who fought with spears, swords and bows. This period of bloody conflict, which lasted for five decades, reached its height when other clans became contracted to those seeking their services in the Mainland.

It would not be until thirty years afterwards, when a certain noble family quickly rose to prominence, that the conflict reached its end. A final brutal conflict enveloped the island nation of Japan, and it was in this conflict that the eighty-year-long war between the clans and Japan reached its end.

In an attempt to broker peace, and to ensure such bloody war would never again be committed, Minamoto no Yoritomo met with the matriarchs of the shinobi clans. It is not known what was discussed in this meeting, only that Yoritomo's wish for peace was achieved. The clans would not interfere with the affairs of Japan, and in turn, Japan would not become involved in Elemental Nations aside from offering political council, as well as the suggestion that the shinobi clans form their own state.

It was this advice by Yoritomo, one of the first of Japan's daimyo, that the idea of a "shinobi village" touched the minds and thoughts of the warring clans. Sadly, it would not be until 1405, on the day Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju made peace with each other, that Yoritomo's wish was achieved.

Many years have passed since that day. The year is now 1534.

It is during this time that a child is born, one that will shatter the foundations of both Japan and the Elemental Nations.

It was on June 23rd that the man who would become known far and wide as the Dairoku Tenmaou was born…

"Bah, what hot air this evening…"

Sitting in his room and staring out in the horizon, sky alight with twinkling lights and a crescent moon, was a young man with dark hair cascading down his shoulders and eyes as black as obsidian. He looked to be in his late twenties, approaching early thirties. A dark purple yukata adorned his body, patterned with dark blue petals and a mokku crest on the back of the yukata resembling a five-petal flower within the circle.

The woman at his side laid against his shoulder, her autumn-brown hair cut at the shoulder and eyes the color of sakura petals, looked at him lovingly. "Come now, Hide-chan. You always say the air in the summer feels warm," she pointed out to him.

'Hide' scoffs. "Doesn't stop me from being right, my love," he replied before looking at her curiously. "And where is our son? Sleeping soundly?"

"Yes. He raised such a fuss earlier, it took me an hour before he finally went to sleep. And so clingy, too~" his wife giggled into the sleeve of her kimono. "Do you suppose he wishes for a sibling?"

At this, 'Hide' smiles lecherously and wraps his arm around his wife's waist. "Perhaps we should perform another re-enactment of the night of our marriage? I certainly do love hearing you scream out my name."

The woman blushed furiously before scowling and pinching his wrist, causing him to yelp and pull his arm away. "Honestly, it baffles me how you can be a wonderful husband one moment and a lecherous pervert the next."

"So harsh! Would you prefer me to be a brute?"

The playful banter continued for a while until they eventually settle to gaze on the night sky in silence. 'Hide' held his wife close to him, enjoying the cool flow of her body against her skin. He did not know how her skin could feel so cold all the time or why she could wear that heavy-looking kimono in the middle of this blazing hot summer, but he did not care. It was times such as this that he truly felt blessed.

"…I would not mind having another child," 'Hide' says after a moment. His wife looks up at him. "Being an only child was rather lonely for me. Painfully, so. I would rather have my son spared of such loneliness." He caressed her stomach tenderly while resting his head against her shoulder. Her hand wrapped around his own and held it tightly. "If we do have another child, do you think they would be a boy or a girl?"

His wife smiled, "I hope it will be a boy. Imagine two brothers together, standing side-by-side with their father…"

The idea makes 'Hide's heart blossom with hope. Suddenly, the voice of his retainer breaches the tender moment from outside his room. "My lord, a moment?"

'Hide' sighs and shakes his head. His wife giggled at his reaction, letting him pull away from her while he made his way towards the door and pulled it open. Standing outside his room was one of his retainers, holding a letter in his hand.

"What is it?" 'Hide' demanded. "Is a man not allowed a moment of peace with his wife?"

The retainer bowed. "My apologies, Oda-sama, but I was told to deliver this to you at once."

'Hide' raised a brow and took the letter from his retainer. He looked at the letter and frowned, seeing the name of the man who sent it before he turned to the retainer. "Was there anything else along with this?"

"Yes," the retainer nods before his face shifted into uncertainty. "A child. Barely a week old by the look of him."

"A child?" 'Hide' looked stunned for a moment. He opened the letter and removed the folded paper from its confinement, opening and reading it shortly after. 'Hide' read the letter twice over, as if stunned by what was written on it, before he threw his head back and laughed.

His wife looked at him in surprise. "Hide-chan? What is the matter?"

"Nothing, Dota-chan." 'Hide' grins at her before he turned to his retainer. "Bring the child to me. I wish to see the boy Hiruzen sought to leave in my care."

The retainer nodded and left. After he left, 'Hide' handed the letter to Dota. The woman read its contents and stared at her husband in surprise. "Is this true?"

"I doubt he would lie about such a thing. Still, he has remarkable timing. We were talking about giving our son a brother, and Hiruzen goes and gives us one himself."

Moments later, the retainer returned and stepped inside 'Hide's room. In his arms was a bundle of cloth, all wrapped around a small child. Dota walked over and peered at the child's face, staring at its bright blue eyes.

"Oh, how beautiful…" Dota stared at the child and carefully holds it in her arms. The child looked at her and started laughing, smiling and reaching out towards her. "He's so wonderful. What was the child's name?"

"Naruto," 'Hide' replies. He looks down at the child and grins as it grabs his finger. "It was the name his father gave to him, though Hiruzen thought it was best if he gave him a new one. Supposedly, the boy's father made enemies in the Elemental Nations. Thought it was best if he was raised here on the mainland instead."

"And what shall we call him, my love?"

'Hide' pauses for a moment. Eventually, he smiled widely and gently took the child from Dota, walking back outside and showing the baby the world before it. He showed the infant just a tiny glimpse of the world it inhabited, the world that would welcome and expand as he grew older and explored it.

"Look at the world, little one," he tells his new child. "This is naught but one of the many skies you will see, one of the many views. And it is this view, this starry sky, that the world will know you as well." He caressed the child's cheek as it looked back at him, obsidian eyes meeting cerulean blue ones. Dota joined his side and also stared at the child with a loving expression.

"Today, the world will know you as my son," Oda Nobuhide says. "My young conqueror… Our Nobunaga."

A Naruto Fanfiction Story:
"The Tale of the Utterly Mad Fool"

So, yeah. This idea got in my head one day as I was playing Nioh 2 and I was re-watching the Naruto anime with my mom. And since I can't exactly pursue it, since I want to keep myself from writing anymore stories that I can handle, I decided I'd make this Story Box and display ideas and future fanfics like this, so that if I do decide to write it, you guys will know what to expect or get a glimpse of what I want to show you.

Originally, the idea was that Naruto was going to be raised by Nobunaga, but I decided instead on the idea of Naruto being Nobunaga himself. Namely because, well, Nobunaga was seen as a "fool," and Naruto's probably the biggest fool there is.

Pendulum's Fifth Swing is still on track and is in the process of being written. Donjusticia is helping me write out the outline of the duel, though it will take a while since both he and I have real life business.

Hope everyone is staying safe during these troubling times.

See You~