Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Fox Clan names, minus Kyuubi. Actually, I don't even own those, because I got them off of Wikipedia when I looked up foxes in legends.

In the Council Chambers:

"What is the meaning of this, Uzumaki?" yells an Uchiha elder angrily.

Minato glares at him with plenty of killer intent but states calmly, "Whatever do you mean, Uchiha?"

Hizashi Hyuga states, "The clan heads of Konoha have been wiped out, and instead of giving us a decent night's sleep, you have summoned us here. I believe the council would like to know why, Lord Hokage."

"As Hokage, I appoint Hizashi Hyuga as the head of the Hyuga clan. We need more clan heads who know how to show respect to their superiors," Minato says tiredly, staring down the annoying Hyuga elders who start to protest. "The caged bird seal will be removed immediately, Jiraiya."

Before the Hyuga elders can react, the Toad Sannin appears next to Hizashi and skillfully removes the seal with a counter seal, causing them to cancel each other out and disappear. "You have no right!" sputters a Hyuga elder furiously.

"I am Hokage. I have every right," states Minato gravely. "I called this meeting because of the results of the Fox Clan attack." The council goes silent.

He snaps his fingers and nine Anbu appear with the children. "The Third Hokage sealed the Fox Clan in these children since they are immortal and cannot be killed once they pass the first tail of power," Minato explains. "He forcibly took my place for the sealing of the Kyuubi into my son." The council starts shouting and making loud accusations.

Jiraiya summons a man-sized toad which draws a sword. The council falls silent, eyeing the large blade. "Fourth," Jiraiya nods. "Please continue."

The Fourth Hokage smiles at his teacher's methods. "Thank you," he responds gratefully. He turns back to the disgruntled council. "As I was saying, the clan heads gave their lives, including the Third, to seal away the foxes. His last request was for them to be treated as heroes of the village."

Danzo steps up to the podium, causing everyone else to be quiet. He says with a rough voice, "These children contain the fox demons, therefore, I propose that they are raised as weapons for the village. They will serve to replace the good shinobi we lost tonight."

"Not a chance," states Minato. The toad leaps forward at the cripple, easily beheading him.

"Sorry about that," the Sannin says coldly as the toad vanishes in a puff of smoke. "I don't know what got into him. He must be restless from the fight." The council pales noticeably from the amount of killer intent leaking off of him. "Any other bright ideas?" he inquires, almost as an after thought.

The Fourth Hokage states solemnly, "I will tell the village and then have them taken care of by their respective clans. I will raise my own son."

The council starts shouting about who gets what child. "That was not a suggestion," says Minato firmly.

The Uchiha step up and glare at the children, "What assurances do we have that the demons will not break lose or gain control of the children's bodies? I say we kill them all now."

"I agree," adds a Yamanaka elder quietly. "We cannot have such a security risk in the village."

Minato leans forward on his table and growls, "Are you questioning my sealing abilities?"

"If I hear another word about threatening my baby, I will tear you all apart!" shouts a voice from the council chamber doorway. Heads turn to see Yoshino Nara sitting in a wheelchair, obviously weak from just having a baby.

An Inuzuka elder smirks, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

A glimmer of light appears and disappears. A moment later, his head drops to the ground. An Anbu takes off her mask and stares at the dead Inuzuka. The council stares in shock at the apparently alive Kushina Uzumaki, also known as the Crimson Death.

"I also have an objection to them killing my child," she says simply. "If I need to, I will adopt all of them to keep them safe."

Yoshino smiles and calls, "The same goes for me too!" Murmurs wash over the council members.

Minato smiles, "I agree with my wife. Anbu, take them to their homes."

"Which home, sir?" inquires an Anbu in confusion. Yoshino and Kushina share a sad glance.

Kushina says, "The Uzumaki estate." Her husband nods in agreement.

The old Nara representative states, "You will do no such thing, Yoshino Nara! If you do not allow the council to do as they see fit with those…children, then you will be expelled from the clan."

Yoshino very slowly and methodically wheels herself up the ramp usually used by Danzo and stops in front of the elder. She smiles at him pleasantly right before spitting on his face. "Kushina and Minato," she says, without taking her eyes off of the enraged elder before her. "I think I will be joining you at your estate. May I?"

Kushina smiles widely, "Of course. We will raise the children ourselves, since these old fools have finally gone senile." The Anbu disappear with the children. The sword mistress slowly pushes Yoshino from the room as shouts and arguments start up again.

They smile when they hear Minato shout furiously, "The village will be informed and that will be the end of it! If any of you try to harm any of those children, I will kill you myself! I am still the best ninja in this village! Any who care to challenge me for the position?" When there are no answers to his challenge, he continues, "Call for the village to meet. I have an announcement to make." The council members disperse.

Hizashi meets the two women before the announcement. "Ma'am," he says quietly to them with a respectful bow. "I am now the head of the Hyuga clan, but the Hyuga council holds too much power right now for me to take care of Hiashi's daughter safely. Can you please look after her?"

They exchange glances and then nod. He smiles, "Thank you very much, ladies. If anyone from my clan attempts to harm the children, I will see that they are executed. The council will be upset, but they can't do anything against me without losing face. They are under my personal protection."

Yoshino smiles and gestures for him to lean in closer. He leans in closer as requested. She kisses him on the cheek gently and whispers, "Your brother would be proud of you, Hizashi. We will keep his daughter safe."

The Hyuga clan head blushes profusely and bows again, "Thank you again." He leaves, trying to banish the blush from his face. He thinks excitedly, 'Now my son won't have to have the caged bird seal put on him! I was afraid I was going to have to condemn him to that fate.'

After the Hokage's Announcement to the Village:

Minato sighs and sits behind his desk. "Sarutobi, you would weep if you could see the depths that our village has sunk. They wanted the children killed; they are all fools. I thought for sure that they would see the children as heroes."

Kushina appears next to his desk and removes her Anbu mask. "Honey, I am going to have to request a leave of absence until further notice to raise our children."

"Granted," Minato says immediately. "Thank you for taking care of the elder in there. They won't dare to attack the wife of the Fourth or the Crimson Death."

Jiraiya hops in through the window and is about to hand the Hokage the newest addition of the Icha Icha series. When he sees Kushina's burning gaze, he hurriedly hides it in his belt. "Minato," he says politely. "I'm going on to go gather information from my spy network and keep an eye on Tsunade. If you need me, I'll be back in a few years."

Kushina glares at him, "Minato told you that he wanted you to be Naruto's godfather, right?"

The Sannin gulps and hurriedly waves his hands in front of him, "Of course! I'll be back to see the boy on his birthdays!"

"Uh huh," drawls Kushina disbelievingly. "A few years is not visiting on his birthdays."

He looks to the blonde for help. "Sorry, Jiraiya, you're on your own this time," Minato says quickly.

"Um…I'll send him a jutsu to learn each year that I don't visit!" he says, hoping to pacify her.

Kushina says pleasantly, "You are going to send him a new jutsu to learn every year, whether you are here or not. And you will be here for each and every one of his birthdays. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Jiraiya groans, mumbling under his breath about research being ruined.

Kushina leans forward and her hand hovers near her katana. "What was that, Jiraiya?"

"I was just saying how happy I am about coming back every year!" he says with a big smile.

Kushina smirks, "That's what I thought you said. If you teach my children any of your bad habits, I will castrate you." The Toad Sannin turns almost completely white before jumping out the window onto a waiting toad. The toad immediately takes off into the horizon, trying to get some distance between himself and the woman with the sharp sword and a bad temper.

"I had better be going," Kushina Uzumaki salutes to the Hokage and disappears in a swirl of flames. The leaf cinders fall to the ground in a small heap. An Anbu drops a genjutsu and sweeps up the cinders. He sighs, puts the cinders in a small bag that is full of identical cinders, and disappears in a swirl of leaves. Another Anbu appears to clean up the leaves…you get the idea.

At the Uzumaki Estate:

Yoshino slowly wheels herself into the very large bedroom containing the nine children. She smiles and gently puts a bottle into each of their cribs for them to drink. "So cute," she whispers.

Kushina appears and smiles warmly, "Yes, they are. What do you think of Hizashi Hyuga?"

Yoshino looks at her sharply, "My husband just died, so he is off limits."

"Just for now," Kushina smirks, still fully clad in Anbu attire, with the exception of the red flames sewn onto the back of her uniform. The Nara ignores her smirk and goes back to placing the bottles.

After Yoshino finishes placing the bottles, her best friend wheels her to the nearby bed. "You need your rest," states Kushina firmly.

Yoshino frowns, "What if the babies wake up or start crying? What about you and Minato?"

"Than I'll be here to take care of them. Rest," she orders firmly. "Minato can sleep on the couch for being an idiot and telling the village about what really happened to the fox demons." Yoshino sighs and climbs into the bed, still wearing her hospital gown. She falls asleep in under a minute. Kushina smiles, changes out of her uniform into a nightgown, and climbs into bed next to Yoshino. She falls into a light sleep so that she can hear the babies should they wake up.

For the first time in Konoha history, all nine babies sleep peacefully through the night. Unbeknownst to the mothers, the Fox Clan is having a meeting.

In the Mindscape:

The Fox clan assembles around a table with Kyuubi at the head of the table, with Eight Tails beside her. "We cannot break out of our prisons," Kyuubi announces dejectedly.

Eight quickly says before anyone can start whining, "I suggest that since these humans seem at least somewhat decent, that we stick together and make sure our vessels are worthy to contain us."

"At least, as worthy as humans can get," mutters Three.

"Why have we not avenged our brother yet?" growls Five angrily.

Bit yaps, "I want to eat them all for what they did to brother!"

Six snarls, "Father, are you suggesting that we sit around like caged pets and Help these humans after what they did to us?"

"No, Shizaku!" states Eight firmly. "We cannot break out. Your mother already affirmed this. If we cannot get out, then the other worthless humans will try to kill us while we are trapped. We need our vessels to be strong enough to protect us until we can find a way out! Are there any other questions?"

"Only one, Father," says Two unhappily. "If they try to separate us, will we stop them?"

Kyuubi and Eight state simultaneously, "Those that would separate us will perish in the flames of our wrath!" The rest of the demonic Fox Clan grins evilly at the thought.

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