Book One: Tsunade's Chance- Nozomi and Sumi!
Time passed and the children grew. Jiraiya still wrote his books. When Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato graduated from the academy they were put on the same squad. As it turns out they made sure their test scores lined up with each other's so that they would be put on the same squad. I gotta hand it to them, that was pretty smart. Two years later they were made Chunin. That same year Minako and Minato graduated from the academy, but they were put on separate squads. Honestly that's a good thing they fight like cats and dogs, every now and then, but not as much as- CRASH!- Oops, spoke too soon.
"Mom! Minato and Minako are at it again!" Yahiko called from outside.
I rolled my eyes. The scene outside wasn't pretty. Minako and Minato were trying to pin each other down. In the process they had put huge holes in five trees, knock down one, and there were two craters in the ground. The only time Minato loses his cool is with his sister.
Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato were sitting the only safe distance away, and by that I mean on top of the roof. I jumped up onto the roof landing next to Yahiko and Konan. "So what's the fight over this time?"
"Mhmm." Konan said shrugging playing with the origami flower in her hair, "I just got here."
"Nothing in particular, actually." Nagato said, "Minako just taunted that he couldn't pin her if he tried. And of course Minato had to prove her wrong. Sooo." Nagato indicated to the scene below us.
"And none of you are trying to break up the fight because?" I asked them.
"You always tell us not interfere. That being the parent's your job." Konan said.
"No one likes a smart allec!" I snapped. Konan smirked and the boys snickered.
"You kids should listen to you mother." Jiraiya joined us on the roof, "Honestly those two just became genin and there they go acting like kids."
"You one to talk, Baka." I said. Konan, Yahiko and Nagato laughed, while Jiraiya looked disgruntled.
"Hey, show some respect!" Jiraiya complained.
"Ummm. What's the word I'm looking for? No!" Konan said. We all, Jiraiya including, laughed at this.
"Who wants to break them apart before they kill each other?" I asked looking at The Mina Twins. They looked like they were trying to kill each other, not even bothering with weapons and jutsu, just their bare hands.
"I'll do it." Yahiko offered, "Konan got to do it last time." He made some hand signs (I don't feel like looking up jutsu hand signs) and within seconds Minato and Minako were drenched. I don't think I've ever laughed that much.
"HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" Minako yelled.
Yep! Definitelyhas my temper! Well now I know Naruto didn't just get this from Kushina.
Dinner was always eventful, but today's was by far the most. As usual everyone was having their own conversations amongst each other. Konan and Minako; my granduncle and Nagato; Jiraiya, Yahiko and I; all having random conversations about today's antics.
"Mom." This was the first thing Minato had uttered tonight.
"Hmm?" was all I could say since my mouth was full.
"Uncle Nawaki-" He stopped talking because the whole table went silent.
The mention of my brother's name was like a taboo in the house. All eyes fell on Minato, who swallowed. "U-uncle Nawaki wanted to be Hokage, didn't he?"
Everyone was in shock that Nawaki's name was even spoken of. I answered nervously, "Yes, it was."
Minato's eyes filled with determination, "Then his dream doesn't end. I'll carry on Uncle Nawaki's dream! Someday I'll be Hokage!"
I didn't think the silence could get any thicker than it had.
"Alright then." Nagato said, "You'll need help to train harder. I'll do anything to help you realize that dream!"
"Count me in!" Minako burst.
"Same goes here." Konan said.
Yahiko nodded smiling.
"You'll need to learn a lot more jutsu." Jiraiya said winking at his youngest son.
My granduncle looked at Minato with the interest he and my grandfather used to look at Nawaki with.
Minato looked thrilled with the support he was getting from his family. Then his face fell slightly, "Mom?"
I smiled at my son, "I always did see my brother in you, Minato."
His face lit up. The kids spent the rest of dinner rambling on about training. I shook my head slightly. They need to be kids too. Oh well, they're just excited.
Time passed relatively quickly. Jiraiya and I didn't have any more children, though it's not like we didn't try. I still mentored Shizune; although we weren't as close as before, the difference is barely noticeable.
Hiruzen Sensei became Hokage when my granduncle passed away. Konan, Nagato, Yahiko, Minato, and Minako became Jonin and got their own Genin teams, Minato became a Jonin after Hiruzen Sensei became Hokage. The strange thing is Minato didn't seem bothered by it.
The Third Great Shinobi War came and went. Everyone lost someone they loved. I was no exception. I lost Yahiko. We all wept, Jiraiya and I lost a son, Konan, Nagato, Minato and Minako lost an older brother. Nagato left the Village after the War ended, he said he couldn't stay here, it held too many memories. Konan almost went with him but she wasn't going to leave when the Village needed her so badly, when our family needed her. I pray Pain won't appear again.
The day Minato became Hokage was one of the proudest days of my life. I couldn't help but gloat a bit to those who had called me a slut when I was pregnant with the Mina Twins. Konan and Minako were throwing a party, close friends and family only. Ami was there with her husband and her daughter, Aiko, who was four years younger than the Mina Twins. Konan's fiancé, Shikazen, a young man from the Nara Clan and a friend of Minato, came as well. Minako's husband, Hiroshi, got drunk, but it's not like I've got room to talk. Several others came. There were several gate crashers but it's not like we cared.
Jiraiya and I tried to prevent Orochimaru from leaving but there was no stopping him. I knew I failed to stop the rise of the Akatsuki.
My gambling habits decreased a considerable amount from the last time. Although I did go out and gamble every now and then. I was still known in the Village as the world's worst gambler, but I wasn't famously world renown for it. I haven't hit since Yahiko died, which in my book is a good thing. But one day, I hit… big. Everyone who was in the gambling hall was in dead shock.
That night the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the Village. The battle was violent from what I could see from the house. Needless to say the boys were out fighting, except for Minato. Shikazen forced Konan stay behind, since she was seven months along. Konan wasn't too thrilled about staying behind, I swear she was about to throw a kunai at his throat. Minako had to stay with her two day old daughter, Nozomi. And Kushina went into labor. My girls have great fricken timing.
Kushina was holding her newborn son. I was barely able to save her, but her chances of survival were still slim. Konan's eyes were filled with impatience, which for her is unusual.
"What's the matter, Konan? Can't wait for yours to get here?" Kushina bantered lightly despite how tired she was.
"Hmph!" Konan said turning her head. We all laughed despite the battle that raged outside. Well everyone but Minato.
"Minato?" I asked.
"There's only one way to stop that Fox." He said grinding his teeth.
"A Sealing?" I asked. He nodded.
"But who?" Konan asked.
As far as the girls were concerned there were three potential candidates. Konan's unborn, Minako's two day old and Kushina's new born. Minato answered without saying anything, he took his son from his wife.
"Minato! No!" Konan wailed, "I lost my other two brothers! Don't make me lose you too!"
"He has to do this." To everyone's surprise it was Minako who said this, tears flowing down her face. Minato nodded to his twin in thanks and left, just like that.
We all watched from a window. Kushina sobbed silently as she, Konan and Minako clung to each other. I just watched, for some reason I couldn't cry. The tears just wouldn't come. I felt sad, but at the same time I felt proud...
Jiraiya and Shikazen came back with Naruto. They also brought Minato and Hiroshi's bodies. This was a great day of loss for my family. It's worse than last time! I feel like I'm going to be sick.
Konan, Minako, Kushina, Jiraiya, Shikazen; none of them looked at Naruto with hate. We knew Minato did what he did to save us all. We knew Naruto was only the container of the Nine-Tailed and if anyone threatened him...
I can't look at the baby who will become the Knuckle Head of the Leaf with hatred. The changes Naruto will bring, the people he will save from darkness. A thought struck me. How different will Naruto be? Now that he has a family from the beginning? He will have a grandmother, a grandfather, two aunts, an uncle, cousins... Will he still know the pain? Will he-? Oh shut up! And stop worrying!
I sat alone in the living room, as I was the last one up. It was the same cup as it had been since the Fox was sealed. I just didn't have any energy to lift the stupid cup of sake to my mouth.
Then I could have sworn I some movement in the hallway. I got up and took a look down the hall; someone was going toward the cellar. The cellar was one place no one ever went. I have no idea what was down there. Only grandfather and granduncle Tobirama had ever gone down there. Nawaki and I had once tried to go down there but we got busted. Needless to say Konan, Yahiko, Nagato, Minako and Minato tried to go down there once but they got busted too.
I followed, although I did hesitate once I had one foot on the first step. There were more steps than I thought there would be. How deep does this go?
What I saw at the bottom of the cellar surprised me so much I stopped in my tracks. Now I know why no one was allowed to go down her. At the bottom sat a huge golden colored wolf, about the size of the Fox, only slightly smaller. Behind the wolf was a large painting of it with eleven tails and on each one was a miniature version of each of the tailed beasts painted, including itself on the middle tail. But that's not what surprised me the most. In front of the real wolf was... Minako! Holding Nozomi in her arms.
"Minako!" I screamed. She nor the huge wolf acknowledged me at first. "Minako! What are you doing down here? What is that thing?"
"Minako, I think I should explain." The wolf spoke in a kind feminine voice. Minako nodded.
"Many, many years ago my mother died of an illness in my home dimension. My younger siblings became enraged and overcome with grief. One of them went too far, he attacked your dimension. You know him as the Ten Tailed Beast, but his name is Kuro. Besides me he was the oldest of our siblings. You know us as the Tailed Beasts."
I was too shocked to really comprehend this well.
The wolf continued, "I came to this dimension to stop him all those years ago. I teamed up with the one you now call the Sage of The Six Paths, to stop my brother from destroying your world. When we defeated Kuro he was sent back to our home dimension. But my other siblings were brought here when I sent Kuro back. I don't know why that happened." The wolf shook her head.
"Are you the reason why the Nine-Tails attacked today?" I asked. I wasn't sure how I felt, angry, curious, yet somehow I almost understood where the wolf was going with this.
"Yes, Kitsune came looking for me. He wasn't trying to destroy the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was just trying to find me." the wolf looked sad. "They want to go home, they all do. But I don't know how. I would have gone out there to stop him, to show him I was alright, but I cannot leave this cellar. Not in this form anyway, I must be sealed away."
"So... So Minako's going to seal you inside Nozomi just so you can leave?"
"Mom, it's more than that." Minako spoke up. "Naruto has Kitsune sealed inside him. And Kitsune will try to break out to get to Sumi. If Sumi is sealed within Nozomi then Kitsune won't try to break out!"
"I-I don't-"
"Lady Tsunade." The eleven tailed wolf, Sumi said. "I know all about this being your second chance, as does Minako. This is why you were brought back. So Minako would survive, so Nozomi would be born. So I could be sealed within Nozomi. I was sealed twice before, once in the Sage of the Six Paths and the other time in your grandfather, Hashirama."
"That's why Great-grandfather could control the other Tailed Beasts, because Sumi was sealed within him." Minako said, "Minato and I were literally born to seal two of the Tailed Beasts within our first and only children.
"NO! I DON'T CARE IF IT IS YOUR DESTINY! I WON'T LET YOU DO IT, MINAKO!" I screamed. I won't lose two of my babies in one day! NO!
"Lady Tsunade, I know how you feel." Sumi said kindly.
I looked at the wolf with hatred, "HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY KNOW HOW I FEEL? TO-"
"To lose everything? To lose your children one by one? To have your little siblings taken from you?" Sumi was starting to get mad, "Believe me Tsunade, I know. I know the pain you're going through! I had to leave behind my mate and children to save your dimension! I could have doomed my siblings to be stuck here forever! How do you think Ifeel?"
I just stood there, not sure what to think. I just noticed I was crying, "Are-Are you sure?" I looked at Minako.
"I am." Minako said.
"Lady Tsunade," Sumi said.
"Y-yes?"
"If I am not to be sealed within Nozomi she would have wondered about her purpose in life. Whether I am sealed within her or not, she will wonder this. But if I am she will find her purpose."
Minako began the sealing process. I watched my daughter die by sealing this Beast, that was unknown to the rest of the world, inside my granddaughter. When it was all over I dragged my daughter's body out of the cellar and placed it in her bed. Everyone will assume she had died of grief. I placed little Nozomi in her crib. I watched Nozomi sleep, so peaceful, so unaware of what was inside of her. I thought struck me.
What is Nozomi's Purpose?
End
Don't worry the story isn't over! Tune in for the sequel to Tsunade's Chance, which is now up and running, Nozomi's Purpose!
Also the sequel to Nozomi's Purpose, Silent Angel!
OH and on Monday February 5th, 2010 Tsunade's Chance got 388 hits! THAT IS SOOO COOL THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOYALTY!
With Authorly Love,
Freewolf17