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Without a Fox: Senju Style

Chapter 1: The Loss

By Jamnaz79

Notice: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in the story. I only write for the hell of it and for a bit of fun and hopefully to have others enjoy. I take no profit or anything from this story.

~~~ WaFSS ~~~

"Congratulations Senju-Sama it is a boy!" The medical ninja smiled brightly as she bundled up a little baby. The small child had Dan's bright blue eyes and a little tuft of her blonde hair on his head. He was a beautiful boy, a perfect boy and he was their child. "I will give you some time alone."

After the loss of her brother and the far too many casualties in this war there was now something to fight for. This baby was something for Tsunade to live for. "His name will be Minato."

It was only a moment and far too short of a time of peace and happiness for a woman that had only felt pain and loss in her life. But, that moment was shattered when the doors opened up to reveal her sensei the Third Hokage and her teammate Jiraya. Normally one would expect happiness on their face at the fact that they were coming to see their teammate and student's new child.

Instead Jiraya was splattered with blood stains scattered over the chest of his uniform. There was a deep sadness carved into his face but it was his eyes looked truly broken. He hung behind his sensei almost afraid to come forward or as if he felt he was unworthy to be there before his good friend. The look on the face of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, was the gaze of a man filled with despair.

As soon Tsunade looked up from her baby boy her eyes looked over the pair of them. It was a pair of her family where she had expected instead to be three people. Perhaps the most important person was missing from the three of them, where was her fiancée? Where was Dan? The look on the face of the two men and the lack of her husband made her heart start to be beat at a rapid pace. Her eyes stared at them afraid to speak. Her luck had been so well, her son was born safe, healthy, and happy. Her husband to be was rotated off of the front lines to be back near home. She was to be given the chance in the future to try her idea of a medic on every team. She had even won a lottery ticket a few weeks ago, too many things had gone right. Too many things had gone right, too much good luck to be anything but bad luck now. She was afraid to ask, afraid to talk to ruin the happiness she had for once in her life achieved.

"Tsunade…" Her name spoken with a desperate sadness from her Sensei broke the moment of peace, shattered the happiness, and destroyed the hope. He slowly walked forward as if approaching a wounded animal. His hand reached forward to brush his fingertips along the forehead of the newborn baby against the scruff of bright golden blonde hair. His eyes lowered to look at the baby filled with sadness, "There was a C ranked mission with a Jonin genin team to escort one of the Fire Daimyo's minor advisors to the Capital from Konoha. It was a low danger mission but the team got into trouble. Dan while on the way back was the closest shinobi to the team. So he was sent as backup…"

The Third Hokage fell silent for long moments slowly raising his gaze from the sleeping newborn to the face of the new mother whose life was shattering before his eyes. He could see the pain filling the face of the young woman whom he loved as much as his own children. He placed his hand gently onto her arm and squeezed softly, "None of them made it Tsunade. By the time we arrived all five of them were dead."

Tsunade felt as if a gong sounded and shattered her world. A mirror of the happy world she had only moments before was now cracked and warped into ruin. "No no no no no!"

Those words would be all she spoke for the next week. Nothing else would come from the woman's mouth except the denial of the world she now lived in. In all of this loss the wonder of motherhood was destroyed for Senju Tsunade.

~~~ WaFSS ~~~

"You take him. I can't do it Jiraya. Everything I touch crumbles to dust. I am cursed." Tsunade stated with a cold distance filling up her voice.

"Hime you don't know what you are saying." Jiraya pleaded with his teammate.

The woman shook her head in disagreement her beautiful blonde hair turned pale and stringy. If one were to look closely they would see her skin drawn and she had lost far more weight than expected of a new mother. There was not healthy hue that often comes with motherhood instead there was dark circles under her eyes and a look of being lost filling them up. She had been a wreck, a destroyed person. She had not even held her child or named him since that night. She refused to be in the same room as the baby.

The one man brave enough to be around her stepped closer raising his right hand upwards to rest against her elbow, "He is your son. Yours and Dan's son Tsunade, you cannot mean to do this."

"I damn well know he is Dan's son!" Her eyes changed emotion like the burst of lightning through a cloud during a thunderstorm. The anger that filled her made the Toad Sage cringe in concern. "Every time I look at his face I see Dan. Every moment I am near him I release what I have lost. I can't do it Jiraya. Promise me you will do it. Make me this promise, take him away and see him become a good man because I will end up destroying him."

The utter defeat that filled the eyes of the woman caused the Sage's resolve to crumble. He had never seen her like this. Despite how much he loved her all of his life, he knew that this was something he couldn't forgive her for. She had lost much, so very much losing everyone that she considered family and loved. But to decide to give up her own child?

Hardness filled the dark eyes of the tall man. He seemed to tower over her looked down at the fallen woman. He snapped at her, "I will do it. But never ask me who he is. Never ask me what he is up to. He will not be a Senju. He will not know you exist. You will never know his name, see his first steps, or watch him come home with a girl. Hime, you will give up everything to do with him. Do you understand?"

The despair spilled over from her soul as she met his eyes. Her soft voice spoke, "I understand and agree Jiraya."

~~~ WaFSS ~~~

"No I won't let you do it!" The voice of Uzumaki Kushina screamed over sounds of destruction around them. Her anger not aimed at the rampaging Bijuu but instead at the tall blonde haired man famous throughout the shinobi world. That man was the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, leader of Konohagakure and new father. The woman screaming at him was his fiancée, a dangerous and powerful woman that under normal circumstances would scare the man to see her like this. But today was not a normal day.

"I have to Kushina-hime. I have to seal away this beast so it will not destroy our home." Minato tried to calm her down knowing that out of everyone in the world she could stop what he was about to do.

"Fine, do that but not into him. He doesn't deserve to live that type of life. You do not understand what it is like, the constant fight. We will stop it but I will not let you seal that beast into my son!" Kushina raged at her husband even as her chains whipped around her in a furious display of power.

"There is nobody else to bear this burden but him Hime." Minato looked down with sad eyes to their infant son lying in the middle of a sealing array that he had drawn.

"There is…" The sky blue eyes of the man flashed upwards towards the woman as he watched a shadow clone appear taking hold of the boy and moving him away from the quarreling new parents. A slight smile reached the corners of the beautiful woman, her eyes speaking volumes that she couldn't voice, "There is us, we shall do it together and our sacrifice will rid the world of the beast. Never will there have to be another Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

"Forever together?" Minato watched the woman he loved closely before returning the smile, "I could think of nobody else I would rather spend eternity with."

~~~ WaFSS ~~~

The door to the Hokage office inched open to show the room that had till recently been filled up by the Fourth Hokage. His paperwork, a manageable pile, filled up the corner of his desk. There was a cup filled with half drank tea, cold from sitting there but the last cup ever drank by the great man.

Nostalgia filled the old man as he looked around the room. The first time he came here he found the room with the possessions of another great man. It had been his Sensei, the Nidaime Hokage. Now instead he came back to this room to take over for the man who he had hoped would lead the village into a bright future.

He was not ready for this. He did not feel up to doing this but there was no choice for another. Sadly the village needed a Hokage now more than ever. Even when he took over in the middle of the Second Great Shinobi War the village was not in such dire straights as they found themselves in now. There was no time to think of the lost. There was no time to think of his wife lying cold, dead on the stone floor murdered by whoever had unleashed the hellish beast!

A fierce anger battled the sadness that churned in his soul. A anger that was one of the few things keeping him going. They had gotten complacent and someone had found a way to strike them. That person had struck them far better than anyone had hoped. Konohagakure no Sato normally could hold twenty one thousand shinobi. That force would include around five thousand genin in the general forces, and five thousand retired members. Consider that of those five thousand retired shinobi many would be missing limbs or unable to fight more than a genin skillfully anymore. Chunin were the backbone of the village system and made up around eight thousand members of their forces spread around fire country for defensive reasons and missions. Another five hundred ANBU would be the elite members of the Hokage's forces ready to react at a moment's notice. Finally there would be the Tokubetsu Jonin which would number close to one four hundred and lastly around one hundred true Jonin, the true elites.

The early estimates suggested that they had lost almost half of the Chunin, one third of the ANBU and a number of the Jonin. This did not even considered the retired shinobi or the fact that he knew that many of his Tokubetsu Jonin and Jonin laid dead in the rumble. The rumble also contained far too many villagers to allow the infrastructure to be rebuilt swiftly but they were the least concern. This did not even bring into account that the Hokage and his fiancé were dead both S ranked.

In one night Konohagakure no Sato had lost nearly everything.

He walked around the desk and moved over to the chair that was still slid out from it. He slowly lowered down to take a seat. The chair squeaked slightly but was comfortable. It would do, he would need a comfortable chair to be prepare for what was to come. And come it did only moments after he sat down the door pushed open fully and an ANBU stepped into the room.

"Hokage-Sama, the Elders are here to speak with you." The ANBU with a rat drawn on his mask spoke up.

"Please send them in and bring the child here." Hiruzen stated calmly as he prepared himself shoving down the anger and grief.

Soot still covered the robes of the three as they walked into the room. They were his oldest friends and teammates along with his childhood rival. All three he had trusted with everything the first time he became Hokage. They had been far younger and unready for the duties thrust on them. Now they knew the duties but were far older and easily past their prime. Still they too had fought against the demon that had ravaged their village.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both stopped and bowed before their old teammate. Shimura Danzo stopped a few feet from the pair and inclined his head. The man had always been stubborn but tonight was not the night to get into ritual with the bandaged man.

Before they could speak an ANBU appeared into the room and placed a basket holding a newborn baby boy down onto the desk of the Hokage. A single nod from Hiruzen and the ANBU disappeared.

"That is…" Homura started to speak.

"Yes, he is. This is Uzumaki Naruto, the child of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato." Sarutobi gently unfolded the blankets of the boy to allow everyone to see him.

The baby had bright blue eyes just like his father that seemed to capture the attention of all immediately. His head had a little tuft of hair on his head, a lock of bright blonde like his father too. It was enough to bring a sad smile to the lips of the old man.

Koharu stepped forward and gently reached forward to brush her fingertips along the cheek of the baby boy. Even the old stern woman couldn't fight the small smile that the boy brought, "Even in such a dark day new hope comes."

"The Will of Fire." Homura offered the simple statement in agreement with his teammate.

The only one of the group that seemed to be unmoved was Danzo. The man stood in the backwards watching the three teammates before the baby. His eyes scanned over the boy and more importantly the seal that was drawn on the stomach of the boy. More importantly he noticed something very wrong with the seal and stepped forward to join the others. The stern man's left arm always in a cast he reached forward with his right hand instead to brush his fingertips along the stomach of the boy. As he did the others saw what he had seen.

The kanji that had been drawn in seals on the stomach of the boy smudged. It was impossible! A seal drawn and used would forever be there. It may fade and only come about from the use of chakra. But to see the seal wipe off meant that the boy was not the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi!

"This is not good." Danzo stated with a frown. Not only had the village lost an obscene amount of strength but now they had lost the Kyuubi too. Minato had actually destroyed the beast, but he left their village defenseless.

"Minato, you truly were amazing." Hiruzen shook his head slowly back and forth with a frown.

"While I cannot deny the amazing accomplishment of the Fourth, he has now left us without one of our most powerful deterrents of attack." Homura stated with a frown.

"I concur, we need a Jinchuriki now more than ever. The powers of the beast would come in handy if Iwa or another would wish to attack us." Koharu shook her head with worry creasing her brow.

"We cannot simply ask another village for their Jinchuriki." Danzo glared out the window at the destruction of his beloved home. The man turned to look back towards the boy, "At least now for now. But eventually if we are careful we may be able to acquire one."

"What do you mean Danzo?" Hiruzen asked as he leaned back into his chair.

"Takigakure." The single word, a name of the small village that was a on and off ally for Konohagakure. The village had their own devastation only four years before supposedly when their own Jinchuriki of the Seven Tails died and the beast escaped. It may be possible to acquire their container to use as a deterrent.

The Hokage rested the tips of his fingers against each other as he stared down at his table in thoughts, "If we do it, the child would not have her burden known. She would be brought here and trained to join the ANBU. An unknown element but raised as a child of the Sarutobi Clan."

"The other clans would not like that." Homura stated firmly.

"The other clans would not know of it. If the girl was just one more refugee brought to Konoha from afar and given a chance as an orphan to be raised it would give a chance for us to attain a powerful asset." Danzo commented to the other Elders. While he would prefer the child be given to him to use as a ROOT ANBU, this would be acceptable alternative as it would increase the strength of the village.

"That does not remove the fact even if we acquire the child of others believing we have a Jinchuriki." Koharu frowned as she looked down at the baby boy. Her eyes narrowed at the boy before she looked back at the face of the Hokage. "Others saw the boy on the battlefield."

"A child would be used normally to make a Jinchuriki and seal away the beast." Homura added at once in agreement understanding what the woman meant.

"No, I will not subject little Naruto-kun to that type of life." Hiruzen shook his head with a frown.

"You do not have to. Only let others believe what they would. Make a law not to speak of the Kyuubi except that it was destroyed by Minato-kun. Others will assume what they will. The boy may even be safer if others do not look at him and see Minato-kun. We would not want Iwa or Kumo to find out who his parents truly were." Homura suggested to the Elders.

The Hokage slowly turned his gaze between the others and saw the determination there. All three of them rarely agreed but they were united in this eye for the greater good of Konoha. He just did not have the spirit to fight this today. Too much had happened, too much loss, too much death. May his predecessor forgive him for this choice. Slowly the man nodded his head once with frown, "If it becomes any possible repercussions for the boy…"

"Then we will make certain that he is safe. He is an asset of Konoha. If he has his parents talent someday he may end up in your chair." Danzo agreed with a sense of finality to the debate.

Hiruzen turned his tired gaze down onto the sleeping baby boy. The words of Danzo making him let out a sigh. His old rival truly didn't know Naruto-kun's family history and how true his statement really was. "Very well, I shall see Naruto-kun to the orphanage. All that we talked about here of course is an S ranked Secret. You are dismissed."

Author note: Something I had been considering for a while. A Naruto that would be a Senju in blood actually but he wouldn't have the Kyuubi or mokuton (which he is normally given). Instead it would be a chakra chains, sensor, and strong chakra control Naruto. I have a few other ideas I am considering with him that might be fun. I haven't decided if they would attain Fu from Takigakure or not. But, I think this could be a fun story. Any thoughts?