Due to many reviewers asking me common questions that will be answered by plot, I will only put unique questions in this Q&A, and answer a commonly asked question at the bottom.

MasterXehanort: Growing tails is something I would like to cover a little later in the story.

As for all of the people who asked where the story is going to go from here, and thinks Naruto is stuck in Yukiko now, I have this to say. Who is Yukiko's mother? Oh yeah, it's Uzumaki Kushina, member of Uzumaki clan and the woman who survived having her Bijuu extracted.

Anyway, it's been quite some time since I updated this little story. The reasons for this being that I haven't finished my outline for it, and the fact that writing this story is difficult. So, so difficult. Honestly, writing Amenaza is a cake-walk when compared to this story, and I don't find writing Amenaza easy at all. Speaking of which, I've also updated that story at the same time as this one.

I've also gotten seventy-two reviews for the last Chapter, which is a record for me, even if all of that haven't exactly been positive. Well, whatever, thanks for that anyway.

Anyway, that's all for now. Sorry for the long author's note, degrading the word count of the Chapter. I'm just going to shut up now.

Chapter 5: Missing, if not Dead

The scars upon the world left after Naruto's wake would tell a great tale about a battle between two beings of immense size, regardless of how short of one-sided the fight really was.

But, the man and woman who had started the battle in the first place would remain unknown in their role, the landscape showing no clues to whether they were there, or why they initiated this battle in the first place.

The blonde man, Namikaze Minato, smiled kindly down at his infant daughter, the one who was to hold the new Bijuu, and to use its power to aid the village in its exploits. The Yondaime Hokage was fully confident that his daughter would lead a full life thanks to her Bijuu.

Kushina, on the other hand, wasn't so certain of that. Having been a Jinchuuriki for much of her life, she knew first-hand of the kind of hardships one may face being one of those chosen ones. Thankfully, such a life had been completely avoided with her other daughter Haruki, but the thought the Minato would so easily seal a Bijuu into his child was a little disconcerting.

Still, she went along with her husband's judgement, and acted practically in the face of an emergency of the village. Regardless of how the Bijuu was unidentified, a Bijuu's chakra can give it away in a heartbeat, and this one appeared to be attacking the village.

The red-haired woman walked up to her daughter, hoisting the sleeping infant girl into her arms. She would trust her husband, but not after she got some answers first.

She looked up. Minato was smiling at her brightly, before once again smiling at his daughter. There was no doubt in his expression, no fear for things to come.

Still, she decided to voice her opinions to him.

"Minato..." she began lightly. "Was this really necessary? Sealing a Bijuu into our baby daughter, creating another Jinchuuriki. Wasn't sealing the Kyuubi in Haruki enough?" she asked, her voice never holding any tone of anger or contempt for Minato.

Minato frowned lightly, and began running his fingers through Kushina's red locks.

"Kushina, you know that we've discussed this back when you were pregnant. That, if there was ever another opportunity to create another Konohan Jinchuuriki, that we would do it for our own child..." he paused, as Kushina looked away from him. He adjusted her head back to him.

"You know I love you, and I love Yukiko, and I only want what's best for her. But, I see Haruki's life, how happy she is, how she's treated as a kind of hero, how inherently superior she is. The Jinchuuriki don't have to be associated with hatred and prejudice, and Haruki is living proof of how to have a good life as a Jinchuuriki. I want the era of pure hatred and contempt for the Jinchuuriki to come to an end, and for the Jinchuuriki to be treated like the heroes that they are. Growing up in Konoha, the most tolerant of the Hidden Villages, will ensure this for our daughter. I want her to live life like Haruki, one of the happiest and most privileged individuals in the entire country..." he finished, smiling as his words seemed to be coming through to his wife.

He hugged both of them lightly, much to the surprise of the red-haired woman.

"I know you're worried that Yukiko will live the life you once lived, but I can assure you that will not happen, Kushina..." he trailed off, before gaining a much more hardened look.

"Besides, its fortunate that we were able to seal this new Bijuu quickly. The other villages would be quick to lap up this new Bijuu and seal it, and I can't imagine yet another child being abused at the hands of one of the other villages," he said calmly.

Kushina looked up at her husband. She wanted to yell at him, to point out flawed his logic was, and how risky this endeavor was, but she just couldn't. His words had touched her heart in more ways than one, and oddly enough, she found herself supporting his decision. They would raise a fine young lady, who grew up in the comfort of her Jinchuuriki status. It was the least they could do for her.

She then offered a light smile at her husband.

"Yeah, you're right..."

"I still want to know where that Bijuu came from..." Minato told himself, after he had left Yukiko in Kushina's care and headed back to his office. He had deployed several ANBU to go and quell the panic that had arisen. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as the Kyuubi attack, as there were no real fires or riots that pervaded throughout the city.

The blonde man sat down at his desk, thinking about the newly encountered Bijuu. It wasn't anything he had seen before, nor was it written about in any book he had ever seen. It had no tails; does that mean it could be called the Reibi? The true nature of the beast's power remained unknown for the time being. The only thing that was certain was that this thing was in fact a Bijuu, given its unmistakable chakra signature that was almost identical to the other chakra beasts.

He would have to document this new Bijuu, getting it into the record books. He was worried about the effect this new Bijuu could have on the Elemental Nations though. With an entirely new Bijuu appearing on the scene, the balance of power the Shodai had created would be thrown off-balance. That was another reason for creating another Jinchuuriki. As much as he hated waving a big stick around to other nations, it was better that Konoha owned the Bijuu than anyone else.

Regardless of who owned the Bijuu, people were going to be pissed. After all, the Bijuu were so coveted that wars have been fought over them in the past, and even though those days were over, and the other villages were highly unlikely to start a war over a Bijuu nowadays, it didn't change the fact that Bijuu were simply tools that were to be used by shinobi, and nothing more.

He was just about to finish up his paperwork for the day, when a young Chuunin that Minato recognized as Aoba came bursting through the door, panting wildly and overall looking a little worse for wear.

"Aoba!" Minato cried, looking slightly surprised at the Chuunin. "What happened?" he asked, concern etched into his features.

Aoba stumbled up towards Minato's desk, placing his hand on the hard wood and catching his breath. He looked up into his leader's confused eyes, a deep look of sorrow piercing into Minato's soul. The future Tokubetsu Jounin leaned back, preparing words that he wished weren't true.

"Hokage-sama... I'm afraid I have some bad news. It's... it's about your son." he said solemnly, and that was all the Minato needed to hear before he rose from his seat in a flurry.

"What! What is it?" he roared at the Chuunin, any pretense of confusion now gone from his face. Aoba buckled slightly from under the harsh tone of the Hokage, but he continued anyway.

"I got here as fast as I could, when I realized what had happened. We were taking the children through the Hi no Kuni's forest on the way to Kikyo Pass, when we did our usual assignment of terrain identification. However, your son and his partner Toji never returned from out of the forest. We vehemently searched the surrounding area for them, but we couldn't find any trace of them. They also went missing at the same time that Bijuu appeared, so I'm afraid they may..." he trailed off, trying to be delicate with his choice of words to the Hokage, who was now clearly going through a tough, personal time.

"We brought the children back home as soon as the Bijuu attack was over. The rest of them are safe at home now..." the Chuunin finished.

Minato collapsed back down on his desk, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy. Looking down, he noticed that his hands had begun shaking, and he couldn't control them at all.

"Calm down, Minato. You're still on the job right now. You have to take this information with dignity, and not break down from it. B-Besides, if Naruto was killed by that Bijuu, there should've at least been a body. Yet, Aoba said they didn't find anything. There's nothing that says Naruto is dead, nothing at all..." he thought, trying to control himself.

"I-I see. Thank you, Aoba. I'll file a Missing Persons report about those two. You are dismissed..." he said simply. Aoba, deciding to give the man some space, silently filed out of the office after a quick bow to his leader.

As soon as Aoba had left the building, Minato rose from his chair, and like a zombie he walked out of his office and into the Konoha archives, where he could find the information on his son and Toji, and compile his report on them.

Back in his office, he looked at the picture of the two boys. His small, scrawny son, and the much larger brown-haired boy who looked something like a bully, if his expression in the picture was anything to go by.

And as the grieving man filled out their reports, it pained him so much to put the phrase: "Likely Deceased by Volition of Bijuu Attack" at the bottom of his son's profile...

The thing Minato was least looking forward to when he arrived home was how to break the sad news to the rest of his family. In one hand he clutched a copy of the Missing Persons report, feeling somewhat nauseous from just holding the tainted scrap of paper. He thought of his wife Kushina, and how she would be crushed by her son's disappearance. He thought of his daughter Haruki, who had just made amends with her brother. And most importantly, he thought of little Yukiko, who would now likely grow up without her older brother.

His ANBU guards bowed to him when he arrived at the Namikaze complex, their masks never giving away their true feelings. He walked up to the front door and lightly gripped the handle, a great sadness overcoming his entire being.

He took a deep breath, and opened the door with a slight creak. Peeking inside, he heard the sound of something sizzling, and then turned to see his wife in the kitching, apparently. His older daughter was sitting on the couch, curled up in a book about ninja weaponry. His youngest was likely taking her nap upstairs.

Kushina was the first to notice him, and she smiled at him when he entered through the front door. However, her happiness quickly turned into surprise and concern as she saw how ragged her husband looked. He was walking with a posture unlike him, his hair was slightly messy, and there were great big bags underneath his eyes. All in all, he looked stressed

"Mina. . .to" she trailed off, as her husband entered the kitchen and stared at her, a look of sorrow in his eyes. Walking towards her, he grasped her hands lightly, and she locked eyes with him.

"We need to talk," he said softly and sullenly, though there was an air of finality in his voice. Perplexed at her husband's odd behavior, she followed him into the living room, where their daughter lay on the couch.

The blonde-haired girl smiled as she saw her father sit on the couch.

"Hi, Daddy," she said happily, rising to her feet and hugging her father. Minato almost teared up at the action right there, but he remained stoic, and in return, he wrapped his arms tightly around Haruki, cherishing the bond and hoping that he'd never have to let her go.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" asked the curious girl, as she noticed that her father's demeanour was much different than his usual one. The Hokage released his grip on her after she asked that question, before turning to glance at both females in the room, whose expressions were twisted in worry.

He took a deep breath, and began talking.

"Kushina, Haruki... There's no easy way for me to tell you this..." he began, noticing that his wife and daughter were both listening intently to his words.

"I have some terrible, terrible news. News about something that I wish would never happen to us..." he said lowly.

"Just tell us, Minato. We need to know what the problem is..." Kushina said, her voice pleading and slightly desperate. Minato turned to her, and she noticed that his eyes were starting to become slightly glossy.

"Naruto is missing." he whispered, though the words resonated throughout the room as if someone had yelled them at the top of their lungs. Kushina covered her mouth with her hands, and already Minato could see tears welling in within them. Haruki stood frozen, her face a blank mask in what he assumed to be pure disbelief.

Amid Kushina's sniffles, he continued on.

"It was on the field trip he was sent on. The class was assigned to break off into partners and do some terrain identification. Naruto never returned from that. The Chuunin instructors couldn't find even a trace of Naruto or his partner. It's like they just disappeared off the face of the planet." he paused for a moment to let it sink in.

"Also... the time he went missing matches up with the appearance of the new Bijuu, so he. . may. . . . even. . . . be..." he trailed off, and those end words were enough for Kushina to break down completely.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed and sniffled heavily, and Minato watched as she fell to her knees, sobs still violently racking her body. It was the kind of sob that only a broken mother could produce.

Minato rose from the couch, and slowly walked over to his grief-stricken wife. In what felt like a span of one million years, he bent down to the ground and hugged her against his couch, rocking the woman slowly.

They continued this on in silence for nearly a half-hour, the noises coming from the house being from Kushina's pained sobs, But, eventually, when Kushina had exhausted all her tears for the time being, she pushed away from Minato violently, her sadness becoming pure rage.

Minato looked at her, surprised that such anger and hatred could be possible on a human face. He grimaced slightly as Kushina carelessly dug her nails into his flesh, though she wasn't focused on him at all.

"That MONSTER! That monster took away my Naruto, and we just let it be sealed in our daughter! It doesn't deserve that kind of fate. I'm gonna go unseal it right now, Minato! I'm gonna kill it! I'm gonna gut that monster who took away my Naruto!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, as much as her hoarse voice could allow.

Minato wrapped his arms around her mid-section, trying to console the rampaging Kushina. He hoisted her over his shoulder, and in response she began pounding his back with her fists.

Minato winced at that. Kushina's blows were strong, considering she was a Kage-level ninja, but he didn't think she really mustered up that much strength in her current state.

The blonde Hokage laid her down gently on the couch, where she resumed crying yet again. Minato sat next to him, and once again wrapped his arms around her, though it was significantly rougher this time.

"Calm down, Kushina. You can't just go and unseal a Bijuu like that. If you go an unseal the Reibi right now, there's a high chance that Yukiko will die from it, Uzumaki or no. As much as I hate to admit it, Yukiko is stuck with our son's possible killer, and she will have to learn how to use its power." he consoled.

Kushina seemed to calm down slightly from her husband's words, though she continued to sniffle all throughout the night.

"You're right. Of course you are, Minato. I can't just go endanger Yukiko because I feel the desire for revenge. We may have made a tremendous mistake Minato, but we're going to have to live with ourselves, and pray that one day Yukiko will forgive her parent's idiocy..." she said.

"She will, Kushina. She most definitely will..." Minato said lightly, stroking Kushina's hair.

"So... what do we do now?" asked Kushina, her sniffles receding down into nothing. Minato smiled sadly at her, trying in a vain attempt to cheer her up, despite the situation.

"We pray. We pray and we hope... that our son is still alive out there. Pray that he only went missing, and that we'll be able to see him again someday. It may be a stretch, but that's all we have right now..."

The parents sat there in silence from that point on.

Haruki, despite witnessing her mother's breakdown, didn't change her frozen, stoic expression, nor did she move an inch during the entire ordeal. As her parents sat there in silence for the rest of the night, Haruki finally moved from his position a few hours after sitting there silently.

Her parents watched her walk over to the stairs, but they didn't say a word.

"I'm going to my room..." she croaked out, and she ascended the stairs without another word. As she walked up the stairs, one could maybe see a single, lonely tear escape her left eye and roll down her cheek, though it may have been just a trick of the light...

For the next week, Minato did things with significantly less energy than he usually did. He didn't smile, wave, or talk to any of the Konoha ninja, and he shut himself up in his office and refused to see anyone.

However, the current day was also the day that an ambassador from Suna had a meeting with him, one that he was required to talk part in, or possibly lose the alliance between them. It wasn't a very important meeting either, just them discussing some domestic issues as well as coming to a few international agreements.

The ambassador showed up around noon, arrogant enough to let himself into the room. He was a slightly chunky man in his 40's, dressed in the ceremonial black robes of Sunagakure no Sato. He had slanted, untrustworthy eyes, and thin pencil mustache that lined his upper lip.

"Ah, greetings Hokage-sama. I trust you have been well recently?" His voice was high-pitched and slightly mocking, and if he knew about Minato's recent tragedy, he certainly didn't let him know.

Minato forced a smile at the unpleasant man.

"Welcome to Konoha, Hayazashi-san. I assume your journey here went smoothly..." he asked, mimicking Hayazashi's faux, yet polite tone of voice to the ambassador.

"Yes, Yes, Hokage-sama. The journey here from Suna was most pleasant, if a little uneventful. I must say, I look forward to trying the famous Konoha hot springs while I'm in town." he replied, trying to break the ice, and failing.

"Oh, well please do. You're our guest here, after all. I'm sure they would be delighted to have you..."

With their introductions done, the two men went right to business with their talk of political and social issues that they hoped to solve. The talks went by fairly simply, with Hokage and ambassador working out a reasonable solution to all their problems that Hayazashi would relay to his superiors in his report. However, it was near the end of the talk that things got a little interesting.

"So, I've recently heard about the incident you had with a Bijuu attack. A tragic occurrence really, Konoha always seems to be the place where these things attack. But, I suppose you've also gained another Jinchuuriki in the process, am I right?" the ambassador asked slyly.

"Oh, well, I..." Minato trailed off, uncertain on what he should answer.

"And, is it true that this new Jinchuuriki that you have holds an undiscovered Bijuu?" he prodded, a little too curious. Minato knew that this was going to happen sooner or later. The other villlages would jump at the opportunity to get their sweaty mitts on another Bijuu. It was best to tell them the truth up front now, lest the village could accused for treachery later on.

"Hmm, yes well, the laws concerning Bijuu capture do state that any wild Bijuu is up for grabs. You have had good fortune to be able to add to your village's power, Hokage-sama..." the slimy man said.

"..."

"Well, if that's all our talk is going to entail, and all the issues have been resolved, then I believe I will take my leave for now. I bid you farewell for now, Hokage-sama, and wish you the best of luck in your village's prosperity." he said, as Hayazashi turned to leave.

He heard Minato greet him good-bye shakily, and as he walked out the door and passed a couple of Genin, a wide smirk came onto his face at the information he learned. Oh, the village council would be so pleased to learn of this...

Deep within the recesses of Yukiko's mind, a great beast slept soundly, unaware of all the problems that were going around in the outside world. The beast was a golden lizard, with a little stump of a tail. It was curled up into a ball, breathing deeply as it slept. Despite being asleep, it was locked inside a giant cage with a piece of paper that read "Seal" on it, trapped within a sewer-like complex. It was impaled by five spikes, one large main one in his chest, and four smaller ones that were impaling its limbs.

The spikes impaled the creature right into the floor of the cage, which was stone structure quite different from the sewers outside of the cage. Occasionally, the creature would stir in its sleep, as if suffering some horrible nightmare.

After nearly three days of being unconscious, the creature woke, and the first thing that it noticed was pain. Pure pain. Agonizing pain. It didn't know the cause of such pain. When it tried to move, it was even more painful, and he succeeded in going nowhere.

The creature panicked, looking all around him, trying to figure out just what was going on here.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?" it asked, but the noise came out as nothing more than a loud gargle. Its panic rose, and it tried to move again, only to be dealt more pain than it could possible imagine.

After a few minutes, it finally noticed that it was in fact impaled straight through its body with five gargantuan spikes, connecting him to the floor. It couldn't move, no matter how much it wanted to.

"Why am I here. What did I do to deserve this? I'm a human, right. I'm Naruto! I'm not some kind of monster..." he thought in his mind, and if Naruto could've cried, he would've very well been doing so at the moment.

The lizard Bijuu started to breathe heavier, and the events of a few days began to come back to them in full force. The field trip, the incident with Toji, becoming this thing, having a panic attack and heading towards Konoha, and finally being impaled by spikes and sealed in his sister by his own mother. The events were more painful to remember than the spikes, and Naruto closed his eyes and roared in pure emotional pain, trying to block out the bad memories. He attempted to clutch his head, but was rudely reminded that he limbs were being impaled.

He roared even louder, and began hitting his head against the cage, making loud banging noises that would go heard by no one in the outside world.

"What did I do to deserve this?" the great beast roared. "Is this God's way of punishing me for being so weak? Why did you do this to me, Mom. Wasn't I a good son? I always tried to be kind, so why didn't you recognize you me as you sealed me away in here?" he gargled, still banging his head, the only thing was free to move, against the cage.

After nearly five minutes, the banging ceased, and a look of pure hopelessness appeared on his face, and he leaned his head against the cold, iron bars of the cage.

"I'm alone in here, aren't I? No one's ever going to come help me in here, are they? I'm trapped in here alone..." he thought, before he lifted his head and let loose a roar of pure agony, which would once again never go heard by anyone.

After his roar was over, Naruto laid his head down on the cold stone floor, brooding silently... and preparing for the long imprison that he undoubtedly suffer...

THE END! (just kidding)

No, this isn't the end. Far from it actually.

This Chapter sure was a doozy to write, and it seems like this story is becoming really depressing. I mean, things just got even worse for Naruto, and his family are going through some tough times as well. This is pretty much the lowest point in the story, however.

Anyway, make sure you tell me what you think, so please Review this!

Goodbye,

Alban55