Living Sacrifice
AU Naruto, Good Kyuubi, living Yondaime, Kushina
The Yondaime speaks with the Kyuubi, and arrives at a different solution to save the village.
"Consult the augury!" Cried Homura of the three elders.
"There is no time. Seal it and use it as a weapon!" Countered Danzo.
"Danzo is unfortunately right, we have no time. I will confront the Kyuubi and stop it, or seal it. We will not use it as a weapon, however. Creating a weapon of this kind only invites war, and risks it being turned on us. This is my final decision as your Hokage." Spoke the Yondaime Hokage. The others present had no choice but to bow to his will.
As the council chamber cleared, Minato, the Yondaime, pulled aside his predecessor the Sandaime, Sarutobi, and his teacher, Jiraya of the Sannin.
"If I am unable to stop the beast, the only other option is the dead demon seal."
"But…" Started Jiraya
"Yes, I know it will kill me, but the job of the Hokage is to give his life to protect the village. The will of fire will live on after me. Jiraya, I want you to look after my wife and child if the worst should happen. But if you try anything perverted, I am so going to haunt your ass."
The three old friends shared a sad chuckle, before Minato went out to face the beast.
"Oh great Kyuubi, calm your fury!" Said Minato from the top of the boss toad summon Gamabunta.
"How can you speak of my calm after what your village has done." Growled the Kyuubi, her voice nearly blowing the Hokage off of his mount.
"We do not know what we have done to earn your wrath, but give us a chance to make restitution." Beseached the Hokage.
"Tell me, can your goodwill bring back the dead? One who bore the mark of your village killed my kit, my child. How can this possibly be made right?" Snarled the Kyuubi in righteous fury, yet she stopped her advance to hear this mortal's response. What good was it if the target of her vengeance knew not why it was destroyed.
"I am truly sorry. I share in your grief, o great one. Even now my wife is in labor with our first child, and if anything were to happen to it, I am sure I too would be inconsolable. Know that whoever did this will be dealt with as harshly as can be, or else offered up to your justice if you prefer. However, for the sake of my unborn child, my wife, and all of my loved ones, I cannot allow you to destroy the village, and will do anything I must to stop you. Please, let us find a peaceful resolution to this great tragedy." Minato cast his soulful blue eyed gaze into the smoldering red eyes of the Kyuubi.
Several breaths passed before the Kyuubi responded "Anything, you say? I wonder. Would you sacrifice your child to buy the peace for your village?" The giant fox tilted its head in a quizzical look.
"You speak of a parent's fury, yet you would ask me to kill my own child?" Minato's surprise was tinged with outrage.
"Be at peace, human. Your child will not be killed. Your child will be a replacement for my own, raised as my own would be. All it's needs will be seen to by me and my kitsune retinue. Further, they will be hostage to your good behavior, but if you do behave, they will be returned to you on their twelfth birthday to learn your ways and act as emissary between our kinds." The nine-tailed spirit's voice fell to a gentle, soft timber. Minato's head fell.
This was the best way, he could see. Though it broke his heart to be parted from his child without getting to spend any time with it, the village had to come first. He couldn't be certain, but the sealing he had planned as last resort could well turn his child's life into a hell on earth anyways, so for all concerned this was the only good way forward.
"Very well. I will go and return with my child. May I, or at least my wife, visit our child at times?"
"Of course, you may visit twice a year. I am not without a heart, after all."
The Kyuubi gave them a month to prepare, and then came for the child. Kushina, the wife of the Hokage, was understandably pissed at the arrangement, but eventually came to see that a living husband and a whole village were almost equal in worth to being separated from her child.
The day came and Kushina, recently released from the hospital, went with her husband to meet the fox. The great beast shimmered, and her chakra coalesced to form a elegant woman with fox ears and nine tails twitching behind her. Seeing in Kushina's distress a mirror to her own grief, the Kyuubi summoned the bearer of the fox contract, and presented it to Kushina. "Sign this contract, and you will be able to summon foxes. We can form a mind link to let you see your child whenever you wish, pass messages to him when he is older, and lead you two to our domain when it is time for your visits. I am sorry to be the instrument of your grief." With that the two mothers embraced, and then Kushina bit her thumb and signed the contract, giving it back to the smaller fox.
"You two show greatness of spirit, for humans. I am sure your child will grow to be great too. This is not goodbye forever, only for a little while."
"Take care of our son, our Naruto. If he is harmed, I will find some way to repay it on you." Said Minato in a display of fierceness.
"Worry not, human. I have lost one child, I will not let anything befall this one." With that the human formed Kyuubi took the child from it's fathers arms, and with a last look at the parents, disappeared in a swirl of flame.
'Good bye, Naruto, our hostage to fate, our living sacrifice.' Thought the Hokage.
Author's Notes:
Well, I'm back with a new fic idea. I have no idea where this is going, (well, ok I have a few, but they are disjointed.)
Don't know if or when I'll update again. Sorry.
In feudal japan it was not uncommon for the child of a leader to be taken as a hostage to insure alliances. The children would be well cared for, often raised alongside the hostage taker's own, and given a nobleman's education. This paired with the definition for Jinchuriki (the term used for Naruto and other demon containers) wich translates to 'Living Sacrifce', and the germ of this story came about. If you want to write something from this base, all I ask is that you let me know in a PM, so I can read it ;)