Yeah, I'm a day late, sorry. We moved and had internet problems. And landlady problems. Ugh. I hate moving.

Anyway, the prologue was about Kushina. If you don't remember, in BotB, chapter 20(ish), Kyuubi talked about a mission to Lightning. Also, the dyed red hair and the seal that Minato put on her back. That doctor erased her memory of what happened.

So, yeah. Here we go!

Rescue Me

Chapter 1

He had a daughter.

Minato stared blankly into the middle distance, trying to wrap his mind around that fact. He had a little girl, his little girl. And her name was Tama. Jewel.

His mind spun, attempting to form a picture of her. She'd be sixteen, just like Naruto. He knew her hair would be blond and her eyes would be light, but there were still so many possibilities. Would she have her mother's golden hair or his yellow locks? Blue, green or some combination? Was she tall or short? He wanted to pull his hair out—he needed a picture.

But even if he got one, that only answered a few questions. Who was she? What was she like? What was her favorite food, favorite color? What were her pet peeves? Had Kushina trained her as a ninja? If not, what did she want to be? What made her laugh?

Minato closed his eyes and forced himself to focus. All of those questions could be answered under the provision that they got her back. That was his priority.

While the other three in the room were shouting at each other—probably waking half of Konoha in the process, could they be any louder—Minato studied the letter they'd received. Blank paper, except for the words sprawling on several lines.

We have Uzumaki Tama. Bring the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki to the Heaven and Earth bridge at sunset in two days, or she will be killed.

There was no signature, only a red cloud, but tucked inside the rolled letter had been a lock of her hair. Clichéd, but the hair had chakra all over it. Kushina had confirmed, it was Tama's. And the chakra was fresh, so she'd been alive when this had been cut.

Kushina had sent frantic letters to the clan in the valley, desperately hoping that they'd managed to fake it somehow. Minato didn't even consider that possibility. He sat down and picked apart the letter, word by word.

The name "Akatsuki" had been mentioned. Red Dawn. Red dawn, red clouds. Why red?

"Uzumaki Tama" versus "Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." Akatsuki was trying to distance them from Naruto while emphasizing Tama's importance. Of course, if they knew of the Kyuubi, they had to know that bringing Naruto wasn't smart. He could count on one hand the people that could control Kyuubi's demonic chakra. Himself, because he was linked to the seal. Jiraiya, because he had control of the other half of the chakra, theoretically. Yamato, because he had the First's chakra and power. And of course, anyone with the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Realization struck him like a thunderbolt.

It was Madara. He was behind all of it.

The red dawn and clouds were signature of the time-altering genjutsu of the Mangekyo, and that was just about the only way to completely control Kyuubi.

But, Madara had control of Kyuubi. Sixteen years ago, he had Kyuubi in the palm of his hand. And he'd sicced him on Konoha. Perhaps he was regretting his decision: he hadn't planned on defeat.

No, no. Minato thought. He'd been working with Orochimaru. The snake sennin had been the one to suggest the seal, to help him modify it. He'd helped him plan Kyuubi's defeat and there was no way he'd be able to hide that kind of deception from Madara. The Uchiha leader had been a master of lies—saying them and seeing through them.

So, Madara had made Kyuubi attack, with the knowledge that he would be sealed away, and now, sixteen years later, he wanted control again. Why? What did he gain by it?

Minato put Madara's incomprehensible schemes out of his head, just as he tuned out the perpetual shouting in the same room. He sighed deeply and caught a whiff of a hospital—antiseptic and medicine. Beneath that was a combination of ink and alcohol. Jiraiya was coming, limping slowly along, probably with the help of Kakashi.

The Heaven and Earth bridge. That was no coincidence. Minato knew Madara well enough to know that a ninja of his caliber did nothing randomly. This was purposeful. There was some strategic advantage to the place, but instinct told Minato there was more to it. A message.

The name, heaven and earth. The bridge between heaven and earth was death. Was that the message? The two sides would meet at death. But whose death? Tama's? His? Naruto's? The strength of the seal came from the Shinigami—another link to death. But what did it all lead up to?

And at sunset. Once again, the crossing over from day to night. A turning point, a choice. That was what Madara was saying. Heaven and earth. Day and night. Tama and Naruto.

And two days. Two choices. And that was probably enough time to get to the heaven and earth bridge, if they left right away. Done with his musing, for the moment, Minato tuned back in to the real world. He could feel his sensei's chakra. Primarily earth-based, Jiraiya felt like a rock. He may seem unstable sometimes, but he was more often than not steady. And, as suspected, Kakashi was walking with him. They were probably talking about the newest installment of Jiraiya's porn series.

Minato blew a breath out and turned to the others in the room. Kushina's face was flushed and she looked to be on the verge of a breakdown. Naruto's pupils were dangerously slitted and when he shouted, his lengthened fangs were exposed.

"What significance does the Heaven and Earth bridge hold?" he interrupted. Instantly, Naruto and Tsunade froze.

Kushina blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"That is where Madara wants to make the exchange," Minato explained. "He must have a reason, a personal reason. Something beyond the symbolism. Naruto?"

The youngest blond was silent for a long moment, and Minato sensed his hesitation, but more than that, his shame. Eventually, he spoke.

"Six months ago, we met Orochimaru there. Things happened, I got angry," he said. The blue eyes, so full of energy, were lost in the past. "I lost control. I went into the four-tailed form and fought Orochimaru. Yamato stopped me before I could kill him."

Minato nodded, though no words really sank in after "I lost control." He folded the paper again and set it on his—Tsuande's desk. "Madara's sending us a message. We have a choice, but he has control. Of Kyuubi."

"Not anymore!" Naruto protested. "The furball's free of that genjutsu!"

"But he could still be put under it again," Jiraiya said from the doorway. He was still weak, and Minato pulled a chair up for him to sit in. "And you know what will happen if Akatsuki gets their hands on you."

The way he said it made fear run through Minato. "What will happen?"

The answering silence intensified the fear, and dread wormed its way into his stomach. With apparent reluctance, Jiraiya answered. "They will break the bond between Kyuubi and Naruto. Kyuubi will be in their control, as will seven—"

"That's impossible," Minato interrupted. "The only thing that can break the seal is death."

Exactly three seconds of dead silence followed his statement.

"Precisely," Tsunade said. "If we give Naruto to them, they will remove the Kyuubi from them and he will die."

Kushina and Minato sat down at almost exactly the same time. "But if we don't," she whispered. "They'll kill Tama."

Choices. Life and death. Tama and Naruto.

Tama or Naruto.

His head suddenly felt like it was being split in half. His son or his daughter.

"He knows that we'll never agree to this," Tsunade said. "He knows I won't because that would give them Kyuubi's power and you two won't because he's your son. This must be a ruse."

Minato rubbed at his head. He could feel the blood pounding in his body, anger, fear and desperation mixing together. "So what do we do?"

"Naruto creates a clone," Kakashi answered. "We send him, with anyone who choses to go. The real Naruto stays here, under heavy guard."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. I'll send some Jounin ahead. They'll be placed in the nearby town, ready and waiting. When we take 'Naruto' out there," she said. "We'll have to find a way to get Tama out before they realize that it's a clone."

"Has the nature of clones changed since I died?" Minato asked, confused. "Last time I checked, clones were just illusions and couldn't be that far from their makers without dissolving."

Jiraiya chuckled. "I keep forgetting that you don't know this stuff. Naruto knows the shadow clone jutsu and he's got enough chakra to keep it up at unbelievable distances."

Minato blinked. "That's a hell of a lot of chakra."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "Kyuubi boosts my chakra reserves."

Yondaime's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. That's one incredible boost."

"Yeah," Naruto said, spinning around. "Being a Jinchuuriki is really useful, except when psychos want the demon locked inside your belly."

He folded his arms and glared at Minato. Guilt swamped him and he nearly went under for a minute, lost in the accusation of his son's eyes. Someone said something and Naruto broke eye contact. Minato squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the emotions away, locking them in a box. Now wasn't the time for the family issues. They had bigger problems to deal with.

Kakashi and Tsunade were discussing plans for the encounter, including feints, replacement jutsus and more shadow clones. Minato tried to make himself pay attention, but his thoughts were scattering, skittering around his brain. Each time he tried to grab hold of one, it slid out of his reach. He could feel his control slipping, feel the paranoia of the Shinigami's stomach crawling up his throat.

Why now? He thought. Usually he was more focused when there was danger, why was he falling apart when they—his daughter needed him most?

Naruto's anger. His reminder of the seal, of his greatest triumph and deepest regret. It sent him back, brought up the guilt he'd carried for sixteen years while fighting, running and dying. Minato fisted his hands in his hair, strove for solidity, sanity.

A warm hand closed over his and the scent of wildflowers wrapped around him. Kushina. She always smelled that way because of the meadow in the valley, he remembered. She loved to take naps in grassy fields. "Minato? We should go home."

He took a deep breath, and ran his fingers over her palm. The panic fled as she rubbed her other hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and took her in—red hair, bright green, worried eyes. He managed to smile up at her and the world became light again.

Kushina returned his smile. "We decided on a plan and we're going to leave first thing in the morning," she explained, tugging him to his feet. "I'll tell you when we get home, okay?"

"Home?" Minato wondered, disoriented. His home, in the north sector. No, that was still tied up in red tape. "Naruto's apartment."

"For ten years," the Chuunin agreed sulkily.

Kushina intervened before the guilt could drag him under again. "Well, I hope your house gets cleared soon," she said. "With Tama coming here, we won't have a whole lot of room."

"We don't have much room anyway,"Minato said. He flexed his hand in Kushina's as they exited the Hokage building. The night air was cool, refreshing. It finished clearing his head, and he breathed the clean air deeply. A western breeze blew down the street, ruffling his messy spikes and blowing his clothes about him. He was wearing borrowed items, as he hadn't had a chance to shop for new ones yet. Naruto was walking ahead of them, and part of Minato knew why there was such fervor in him, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. A reference had been enough to send him spiraling down. He didn't want to think what a conversation, or even worse, a full-blown argument, would do to his precarious hold on sanity.

The rest of the walk back was in silence, uncomfortable and tense.

At last, Naruto pushed open the door to his apartment, having not locked it before. He paced inside and Kushina, the last one in, closed the door. The proverbial elephant stood in the corner, giant, waiting, ignorable as long as no one spoke of it.

Naruto flopped down on the floor, leaning against a wall, staring out the window resolutely.

The silence expanded until the tiny apartment could no longer take it. The interminable silence pressed on Minato and he began wishing for some noise, some anything. He couldn't be silent. Cold and silent and dark.

He didn't even realize he was holding his breath until he opened his mouth to speak and took in a deep, gasping breath. Naruto and Kushina both turned to him, varying amounts of worry in their eyes. He locked eyes with Naruto.

"Say it."

His son's blue eyes changed, from mildly worried to electric. They were filled with anger, brimming over with it, but the longer Minato stared at them, the more hurt he saw swimming underneath.

"Say it, Naruto."

Kushina stepped forward. "Look, I don't think—"

"Now isn't the time?" Minato interrupted. "Would you rather this come up while we're fighting for Tama? No, I want this out now, in the open. We can deal with it then!"

"And just how do you think we'll deal with it?" Naruto asked, exploding up to stand. "How do you suggest we get past this? Do you think we'll ever be a normal family?"

Minato opened his mouth to reply, but Naruto barreled over him, fueled by sixteen years of repressed anger and betrayal. "You—You abandon this family, your decisions tear it apart, and now you're playing psychologist to put it back together! It doesn't work that way!"

"Then what do you think we should do, Naruto?" Minato demanded, coming around to face his son.

"Any way to reverse time?" Naruto shouted. "Because if it weren't for that stupid seal, we wouldn't be in this situation at all!"

Kushina stepped forward, holding her hands out. "Listen—"

"NO!" Naruto bellowed, throwing his hands up. "I'm through listening. I'm done! I've listened to your explanations, your excuses!"

"Excuses?" Kushina said. "Those weren't excuses!"

"You gave up!" Naruto turned to his father. "And you didn't even try to find another way, did you? You both just let Orochimaru manipulate you! Great ninjas, smart people and you let snake-face talk you into tearing this 'family' apart, abandoning me!"

Minato wanted to close his eyes, run away and escape from the terrible truth, but there was no where to escape to. The truth, even if Naruto never reminded him of it, was like a shadow, following wherever he went, a constant burden he would never atone for.

"Do you even have any idea what my life was like?" Naruto shouted. "I told you, I've lived in this apartment for ten years, since I was six, by myself! I—"

Something occurred to Minato, and he grabbed hold of it, hoping to stop Naruto's tirade for now. He couldn't do this now. "What about before you were six?"

That stopped Naruto in his tracks. "What?"

"You said you've lived here since you were six," Minato said, thankful for the distraction. "What about before that? Someone had to take care of you before then. Who was it?"

Naruto stared blankly at him. His eyes drifted to the side, and the younger blond searched his memory. After a few minutes, his expression became more intense, and even more bewildered.

"Naruto?" Kushina asked.

"I . . . I don't know," Naruto muttered.

Minato frowned. "What don't you know?"

"Who took care of me," he answered, brow still furrowed in confusion. "I can't seem to remember."

Minato exchanged a glance with Kushina. Most kids remembered at least snatches of life, faces, or places before they were six. Long-term memory actually began forming when an infant was six or seven months old. Naruto should remember something. "What's your earliest memory?" Minato asked.

"Here." He gestured. "I was in here and Sarutobi was talking to me about . . . something. It feels like I can't understand him. I'm scared and confused."

Naruto shook his head and sat down. "I feel like there should be something there, you know? Why can't I remember?"

Kushina pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, honey. We'll figure this out."

"What do we do until then?" Naruto asked.

"Get your sister back," Minato said. "Try to meditate, even if you can't sleep. I'll make some tea, like my grandfather taught. It should help you relax. We have a big day tomorrow."

Kyuubi paced back and forth in his cell, tails twitching irritably. He'd managed to keep the secret for ten years. Ten years, he'd protected the kit's sanity, prevented what the snake actually wanted.

But now, things were falling apart at the seams. It was only so long until Naruto went back to his memory bank and started poking around. Then, things would get bad. Kyuubi figured it was too late for Orochimaru's real plan and the freak was dead anyway, but still.

Things were adding up. That memory Naruto dredged up while searching for his Areah Broah, the appearance of that stupid old priest, and now this. Hopefully the situation with Tama would keep their minds off of Naruto's 'missing' memories until Kyuubi could figure out a way to repress them even further.

--

what's the secret? any guesses? anyone? Bueller? . . . Bueller?

So, yeah. It'll all be explained soon, and next chapter will be Tama's rescue mission.