This chapter has taken me longer to post than I had intended, but I've been occupied by personal matters, combined with a number of distractions.
Also I decided to split in three parts, otherwise it would have been a very long chapter which would taken a lot longer to post, and I don't want to keep my followers waiting very long for updates.
Caged Beast Part 1
Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash. There isn't anywhere in the shinobi world where these names and titles for the same man hasn't been heard. Soon, he'll be able to refer himself by a different title, one he'd be most proud of:
Father.
What people didn't know, with the exception of those closest to Minato, was that he has been married since during the third shinobi world war, something that was regrettably forced to kept a secret so as to not endanger his spouse from the multitude of enemies he would earn from his exploits. This wasn't to say that his spouse couldn't protect herself, seeing as how she's a kunoichi from the Uzumaki clan.
...
Kushina Uzumaki at a young was sent from her native village Uzushiogakure to live in Konohagakure under the care of Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage. At the shinobi academy, all the other children would tease and bully her for her red hair, the trademark characteristic of her clan, giving her the nickname tomato. Kushina would always respond physically, attacking anyone who would make fun of her, giving the impression that she's a violent, short-tempered girl who dosen't take shit from anybody.
Minato, who was in the same class as her, was captivated by her red hair. Kushina saw him as a wimp that wasn't worth her time, until one night she was rescued by him from Kumo-nin who attempted to kidnap her, all because of a trail of her red hair that only he noticed. A friendship sparked between them that night which quickly grew into something much more.
Both of them grew up to exceptional shinobi, Minato as the Yellow Flash, and Kushina as the Red Hot Habanero, a name that inspires more fear than respect. As an Uzumaki, she naturally mastered Fuinjutsu, some of which she also taught to Minato, but in Konoha she was well known for her kenjutsu, another art form that her clan was proficient in, second only to their Fuinjutsu.
...
Minato and Kushina settled for a calm and peaceful life in Konoha after the third great war, Minato being the Yondaime Hokage and Kushina being a housewife. One day, Kushina started feeling sick, and when she went to the hospital for a checkup, she couldn't help but feel surprised about what the medic told her plain and simple.
She was pregnant.
When she got home and told Minato the news, he had an expression of shock that turned to joy, knowing that he'll become a father, while Kushina was only feeling Joy, knowing she'll become a mother.
Nothing, however, is ever simple in the shinobi world.
The reason Kushina was sent to live in Konohagakure was so that she would become the second Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. Mito Uzumaki, the first Kyuubi Jinchuriki, was reaching her end, which would have result in the death of the bijuu within her. When a bijuu dies, they eventually reform somewhere in the world, free from the captivity of a human host. In order to prevent this, the Kyuubi had to have been transferred and resealed into another Jinchuriki.
Any seal that imprisons a Bijuu uses the host's chakra to suppress it within the stomach where the energy is produced and most concentrated. In the case of a female Jinchuriki in pregnancy, her chakra would automatically get diverted into the growth of the fetus, weakening the seal as a result to a point where the Bijuu would be able to force its way out.
Minato and Kushina are forced to take precautions on the day of the birth, ensuring that the Kyuubi remains sealed and that the village isn't in harms way from the threat of the Bijuu breaking free.
...
In a remote part of the forest, far from Konoha, was a cave used by the village where the birthing is taking place. The entrance was guarded by four anbu agents, and the area was surrounded by a barrier seal meant to stop the Kyuubi in case it did manage to break free.
The barrier was combined with two other seals used for security, a sensory seal that alerts the caster of any intruder entering the perimeter, and a locked-space seal that keeps intruders from entering through teleportation. Kushina came up with the idea on a whim, and her hormones drove her to follow through, wanting absolute certainty that nothing goes wrong. Minato thought that it was an unnecessary measure, seeing as how it's more for external threats while the main issue will be internal. Of course, he knew better than to risk his life just by arguing with a hormonal Kushina.
Somewhere by the edge of the barrier in another part of the forest stood a lone figure, wearing a black robe with a hood over his head and an orange mask with black stripes and a single hole that reveals his right eye.
'Damn that Minato, he must have added in a seal that negates transportation techniques. If I do manage to enter, I'll lose my advantage and won't be able to escape.' The figure thought to himself.
'Well no matter, he can only fix the seal in a way that will leave it vulnerable. I'll have to come back a while later and do it the hard way, but I'll still have good chance by then, and I will see the village burn to the ground.' The figure thought as he was sucked into a swirling vortex that's originating from his right eye, disappearing from sight.
...
Inside the cave, Kushina was lying down on a stone slab, crying in pain from the labor of birthing out her child, her hands gripped tightly on the two poles by both her sides. Minato, standing beside her, wishes he could hold his wife's hand for support, but is forced to keep both his hands placed above the seal on her stomach that holds the Kyuubi, keeping the bijuu from breaking out during the labor.
"Are you sure she's going to be alright, I've never seen her in so much pain before." Minato asked the midwife, Biwako Sarutobi, wife of the Sandaime Hokage, feeling uneasy about the state his wife was in.
"Of course she will, women were made to endure this kind of pain, most men would have dropped dead long ago. Now quit your worrying and focus on the Kyuubi." Biwako replied in a serious tone.
In the mindscape, where Jinchuuriki and Bijuu interact, the Kyuubi was loudly roaring as it struggled to free itself from the stone sphere it was chained to and nailed on through its limbs, a representation of its imprisonment.
'The Kyuubi, it's doing everything in it's power to force it's way out.' Minato thought worryingly.
"Hang in there Kushina." He told his struggling wife.
"Naruto, come on out." He commanded his yet to be born son.
"I can see the head now. You're almost there Kushina." Biwako assured her.
"Just hang in there. You're doing great." Taji, Biwako's assistant who was standing beside her, stated.
The Kyuubi continued to fight for its freedom, roaring aggressively within the mindscape.
"Naruto, please hurry." Minato begged as he was starting to struggle.
"You stay in Kyuubi." He demanded of the Bijuu.
Eventually, Kushina's screaming from all the pain were replaced by the crying of a newborn baby.
"Hot water now!" Biwako commanded quickly.
"Got it." Taji immediately replied.
Having finished the labor, Kushina ceased her screaming. She could only stare at the ceiling while breathing heavily, listening to the cries of her newborn and letting tears rolling down from her eyes.
Minato was getting close to tearing up himself, staring at the bundle wrapped in a red cloth in Biwako's hands, a baby with the same blonde hair as his father, a birthmark in the form of three horizontal lines on both his cheeks resembling whiskers, and toothless gums that are revealed as he cries.
"Today, I become a father." Minato happily states while wiping his tears of joy with his left arm.
"Yes, you have a healthy baby boy Minato." Biwako told him as she walked around the stone slab, Taji following her. Minato attempted to grab hold of his newborn son.
"Back of you, mother first. She did all the work after all." Biwako firmly told him, passing by him and then standing next to Kushina, holding the still crying baby next to the mother for her to see her child for the first time.
"Naruto, so we finally meet." Kushina weakly and happily says to the newborn.
"You'll have plenty of time later. There there little one." Biwako walks out of the room with the baby, trying to calm him down. Minato got closer to Kushina and grabbed her wrist, her hand still holding onto the pole.
"Kushina, are you alright?" He asks his weakened wife.
"I'm fine." She gently replies.
"Thank you." He says to her, showing her gratitude for making him a father.
"Minato." She simply states with pure emotion.
"All right, I know you've already been through alot, but I have to patch up the seal now." Minato grabbed his right hand and placed it on his wife's stomach as he started to add in a Integration seal, combining it with the one that holds the Kyuubi to cover up all the damage, keeping the Kyuubi at bay.
Ideally, he would have just fixed the original seal, but his chakra would be foreign to the already established seal and it would either reject it or lead to some complications. In Fuinjutsu, a seal master can easily repair a damaged seal that was created by him. For someone else to do it, they would have to use a specialized seal that attaches with the damaged seal and slowly integrates into it until its whole again.
There is a downside to this. Seals are jutsus in the form of writing and formulas, the complexity of which measures their strength and effectiveness. An integrating seal has to be low-level in terms of formula for it to become part of another seal, making it easy for someone to dispel it. Also, it would take a long time for the process to finish, leaving the seal vulnerable until then. Minato wasn't that worried about it, seeing as how her status as a Jinchuriki was kept a secret.
"All done. We can rest easy now and just enjoy the rest of the night." Minato stated having finished the process. It was another painful experience for her, although it was nothing compared to the first.
"Good. Don't want anything else coming out anytime soon, least of all a giant fox." Kushina said jokingly. Both of them lightly laughed at that.
"He is handsome Minato." Kushina simply stated.
"Was there ever any doubt. It's a shame he doesn't have your red hair, but I think all the girls will still chase after him." Minato casually stated.
"Yeah well they all have to deal with me first until he finds the right one." Kushina firmly replied, to which Minato chuckled.
"Do you think he'll grow up to be strong?" She asks him.
"Of course I do. It's our duty as parents to unconditionally believe in our child, and I know for a fact that your clan's legacy will live on in him." Minato reassured her.
Every since the destruction of Uzushiogakure, Kushina has been devastated from the loss of her clan, and all the uncertainty for the survivors has left her with little comfort. It has since been her wish to reform the Uzumaki clan through her own children, while trying to find and help the survivors, something her husband supports completely. The legacy of the Uzumaki clan would be entrusted to Naruto, and it would her gift to him as a shinobi.
This chapter is the point where one small difference alters the whole timeline, and it is where I've added in my idea of a concept to fit in the story.
And yes, this means that Naruto is spared from becoming a Jinchuriki, I have other plans for him and the Kyuubi.
