Only one more chapter after this one. Many thanks to my beta, waiting4morning, as usual. Thanks so much for the reviews, folks!
THREE
From his vantage point on a balcony of Hokage Tower, Minato saw a faint orange glow lick at the trees in the distance – brighter and more pervasive than dawn. He ducked inside to don his long white coat. A messenger tapped on the door to the suite he shared with his fiancée—damn, he loved that word—just as he was adjusting the collar.
"Come."
The messenger who entered was winded – an odd state for any ninja to be in. Minato frowned – he'd been wondering about tightening up training requirements. Too many shinobi were going soft right after passing the chuunin exams. The man in front of him was doubled over, hands on knees in a sort of half-bow of mingled respect and exhaustion.
"Hokage-sama, a scout has just come in from the outpost by the Valley of the End, there's something approaching the village."
"I know, what is it?" Minato could see the man was afraid, but that was no excuse to mince words.
"Muffin?" Kushina's call wafted from the bedroom door over to Minato, who suppressed more annoyance. She knew better than to call him pet names with others around. No one in the village wanted to hear their young, unmarried, fairly green—albeit talented—Yondaime Hokage referred to as 'muffin'. He reminded himself she hadn't been feeling well and may not have heard the messenger enter from the back room.
The messenger was giving him an odd look – not exactly insubordinate but certainly amused. It died when Minato repeated his question. "What is it that's approaching?"
"They're not sure…" the chuunin was evasive.
"Minato-kun?" Kushina's voice came nearer and sounded slightly more urgent.
"They think it may be a bijuu."
Time slowed to a crawl, and Minato scrolled through his knowledge on the subject – tailed demons, nine known of, highly dangerous…
"Is it a jinchuuriki? Is it trapped in a human, do you know?" Minato's tone was urgent. A demon with a human host was somewhat more manageable than the alternative.
The messenger shook his head and shrugged, still breathless. "Don't know, but the outpost has been destroyed – we have two ANBU squads out there monitoring it now – they may choose to engage if—"
"It's going to take more than two squads! What—"
"Minato!"
The Hokage snapped to attention, turning to face his bride to be. She stood in the bedroom door looking slightly crazed, hair mussed, one hand on her distended belly. "I'm having your baby, idiot, pay attention!"
"What? Now?" Minato's mind couldn't process Kushina's words – it was full of strategy, troop movements, and destroyed outposts. "Kushina, they think there's a bijuu on its way toward Konoha."
Kushina blanched at his words. "Do they know if it's the same one that…" Her words trailed off, and she closed her eyes for a moment and grimaced, beads of perspiration materialized on her porcelain forehead. "Minato, I don't think the little bastard will let me hold him in until your earliest convenience!"
Minato turned back to the chuunin messenger who looked almost more horrified at the idea of the birth than of the demon that was approaching their village. "First of all, go to the hospital and notify Rin-san that my wife is having our baby—"
"I'm not your wife yet, idiot!"
"—shhh! Tell Rin to meet her at the emergency room entrance. Also, send word to – wait, who ordered the ANBU squads out to monitor the bijuu?"
The messenger looked a little taken aback. "D-Danzou-sama did."
Damn. Of all times for Danzou to make an insubordinate political move, it had to be during a village crisis. The old man seemed determined to make life difficult for Minato, the hand-picked successor of Danzou's rival, Sandaime Hokage. "Tell Danzou-san to meet me in my office right now. Also fetch Jiraiya-sama, Uchiha Yashiro-san, and the council members." The messenger blinked stupidly at these orders. "Now!" Minato punctuated the order with a finger toward the door. The chuunin scampered out.
"Minato – what can I do to help?" Kushina's eyes were bright with worry.
"Get to the hospital and have our kid – you said it yourself, he's getting impatient." He offered Kushina a humorless smirk.
"But I can help – I've dealt with bijuu before and I think that…"
"Kushina-chan, we'll figure it out. Can you get to the hospital on your own?" She glared daggers at him by way of a response. Minato grinned wryly. "Send me word when our son is born. I love you."
"I love you too." She walked forward and gave him a kiss and a worried frown. At a loss for further words, Minato flickered out of the room.
The stench was insidious. Fire had rent the forest, and the odor of death seemed not only to hang in the air but also to cling tenaciously to Minato's once-white cloak and his usually-vibrant yellow hair. He was in a clearing a short distance outside the village with a few of his captains – all of whom were as dingy as he himself was.
His old teacher, Jiraiya, was sitting on a stump, looking defeated. "The toads have done what they can – Gamabunta doesn't think he'll be able to hold back the Kyuubi much longer. He's tired and this isn't his fight."
"This is everyone's fight – are you going to give up so easily?" Danzou's tone was scornful, his head swathed in bandages – it looked like he would never again have use of his right eye. "If you had let my teams take the Fire Temple hours ago, we would not be in this mess. We would have had a better angle of attack and could have—"
"Enough, Danzou. You've caused enough trouble today." Minato snapped. "We won't do Konoha any favors by turning against each other now." He pinched the bridge of his nose and bowed his head for a moment. "What are our losses?"
"We're not sure, the medics are still looking for survivors from the last push. There aren't many medics left, and if the toads must leave soon that whole area will again be overrun." Yashiro, the Uchiha police chief, spoke in clipped tones.
"Hokage-sama – Sensei!" The reedy voice of a young girl made Minato release his nose and glance up. Rin had dropped into the clearing. She was incongruous in their midst – a young, well-groomed girl in pristine hospital scrubs among a gaggle of filthy, tattered men. "Sensei – Kushina-san sent me with a message. She says you must come and meet Naruto."
Jiraiya beamed. "You didn't say she was having the baby!"
"There didn't really seem the time to bring it up…" Minato could feel a flush of pride creep up his neck. He directed a question at Rin. "Is she okay?"
"Is this really the time?" Danzou retorted.
Rin ignored the old man. "She's tired, it was a hard birth, but she'll recover. She also told me to tell you that she has an idea, and you need to come now."
Danzou waved his hand carelessly at Rin. "Well, he can't come, little girl. Hokage-sama is busy at the moment."
Rin gave Danzou a cool gaze. "Where is the medical corps coordinating from?"
"About two kilometers west of here." The reply was from the Uchiha.
"Then I'll go join up with them. Sensei – Kushina-san was serious, you should go see her." With that, Rin gave a chakra-infused leap into the nearest tree and headed west.
"You should go, Minato-kun." It was Jiraiya speaking. "Go see your son – Gamabunta can last for another fifteen minutes, maybe longer."
"But, I don't think that…"
Danzou's low voice was filled with venomous contempt. "Would you abandon your people to their fate while you go and comfort that whore that—"
Jiraiya was going to sputter out a defense of Kushina, but Minato beat him to it. In a heartbeat, he was standing directly behind Danzou, kunai at the old man's reedy throat. "Never – say that – about my wife – again."
Danzou wisely said nothing. Minato lowered the kunai and stepped away from him. "Give me ten minutes." With that he summoned enough chakra to disappear from their midst before anyone else could protest.
The hospital was jarringly clean and disturbingly silent. The wounded were being triaged on the field, and all available staff members were out there assisting the battle effort. A low rumble – like giants playing hopscotch – would sound in the distance every few seconds. The thoughts of I shouldn't be here and Where is my son? were warring for superiority in Minato's mind, and under it all, a small voice was telling him, you know what you need to do – but you're afraid.
All the more reason to see Kushina, one last time.
He found her in her bed. The baby was a bundle of blankets in the arms of a pudgy nurse standing near the headboard. Kushina indeed looked tired, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her luxurious red hair was tied on top of her head in a messy semblance of a bun. She looked proud but anxious. The nurse let out a squeak at his appearance and jumped, jostling the baby. A rosy fist and a soulful wail burst from the blankets, and Kushina turned her head to face the door.
"Minato-kun, you came." The relief on her face was apparent, she turned to the nurse and nodded. "Give him our son."
The nurse handed him the baby with a shaky, "Hokage-sama," and exited in a hurry.
"Look what we made, my love – it's a fish cake!"
Minato chuckled and looked down at his son – his face was screwed up and beet red. The screams were deafening, and his little fists were flailing desperately. Minato noted the shock of blonde hair with a little pride. "He looks like me!"
"That's the way it goes – poor kid." Kushina grinned and gestured him over. "Bring him here." Minato sat on the edge of the bed still cradling the newborn, whose screams were beginning to quiet a little.
"He's… so… squishy."
Kushina snorted and put a hand out to stroke the baby's head; he quieted further, only giving little hiccups of distress now. "Minato, there's not much time. I know what you're thinking, and I think I have a way out."
The shift of subjects jarred Minato back to reality. "What do you mean?"
"You're going to try the shiki fuujin, aren't you?"
"How did you—"
"It's not the only way, Minato – you don't have to die." Kushina grasped his arm in urgency. "I know you're thinking of trapping the bijuu in your own body and dying for the village."
"It's the only way we know of to stop a bijuu, Kushina. I developed that jutsu for exactly this kind of problem."
"No, it's not the only way! Well, it is, but it doesn't have to result in death. We can do it together!"
"What do you mean?"
Kushina's blue eyes were on fire, and she gripped his arm tighter. "We can perform the shiki fuujin together – you take the yin, I'll take the yang. Neither of us have to die because we won't be taking the whole demon."
"Kushina, I don't think that…" Minato shook his head slowly.
"No – it could work!"
"I'm not saying your idea isn't sound, Kushina, but you're in no condition to do this – you're completely worn out – Kyuubi would kill you for certain."
"So it is Kyuubi, is it?" Kushina set her jaw and her hand, still stroking Naruto's head, paused for a moment.
Minato nodded grimly. "I know you want to be a part of defeating this demon, Kushina-chan."
"Hell yes, I do! It's the reason my family is dead! It's the reason I don't have a country anymore--"
"Kushina." He said her name tenderly, and it made her pause. "Even if I could divide Kyuubi into yin and yang and put one part in another person, there's no guarantee I could save myself. The jutsu was designed to require a sacrifice, it may take all my strength just to make sure that whoever else was sealed made it out alive."
"Minato, you have to try! Please!" Tears were springing into Kushina's eyes now. "I won't lose you to this demon the way I've lost everyone else!"
Minato had never seen her so distraught. "My love, who would I ask to make that sacrifice with me? I can't ask anyone else to put their life on the line with me – I'm Hokage, it's my duty to protect this village."
"You can't protect them anymore if you're dead! Ask Jiraiya – he loves you like a son! – or Sandaime, he has at least as much duty to the village as you do!"
"Kushina, they are both too old – it would kill them for sure. The younger the vessel, the better the chance of survival." As the words left his lips, a wonderful, terrible idea crossed Minato's mind. He glanced across at Kushina; her eyes were wide and locked on his. In unison they both looked down at the child between them. He was drowsing with his little baby lips slightly parted, cheeks damp from the recent tears. Minato cleared his throat, "No, we can't, he's just…"
"Yes, we can." Kushina's voice was steady. "He's the healthiest baby Rin has ever seen, Minato."
"But he's our son!"
"That means he's tough enough to handle it."
Minato felt his jaw drop. I can't believe we're actually considering this…
"Minato – listen to me." He met her eyes again. "I don't want to tell our son, years from now, 'sorry, kid, we just didn't think you had the stuff to save your daddy.'"
"You wouldn't – you can't think of saddling him with that kind of guilt."
"Minato-kun, kids ask questions, I'm not going to lie to him." Kushina shook her head. "You said yourself the greatest risk would be to you – not to Naruto."
Pieces were clicking together in Minato's head. It would definitely increase his chances of success to have Naruto there. Without another person to trap the demon in, the chances of shiki fuujin working at all were slim. Most likely he would die, and the village would still be destroyed by a weakened but still very powerful Kyuubi.
"Minato, I trust you with his life – If you do this, we can really be a family. If you do this, I can be at peace." Kushina's voice was broken. She was pleading with him now, and Minato didn't think he could bear it.
"If I do this, and I fail…" Minato took a deep breath and released it. He stood from the bed and held the baby close to his body. Naruto nuzzled into his shoulder. "Make sure the village knows that our son is a hero – that he's ensuring the village's survival."
"Don't talk like that." Kushina was fierce and beautiful, even in the hospital gown and slapdash hairdo. "You'll succeed – you have to – we're getting married in two weeks."
He bent down and gave her a lingering, tender kiss – soft and familiar. Kushina then pressed her cheek against the yellow fluff of baby Naruto's head and whispered something inaudible in his ear. Minato turned toward the door and, son in arms, flickered out into the tumultuous night.