~ The Path Set ~


The recently-appointed Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was married to Kushina Uzumaki, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. When Kushina became pregnant and the birth of their son drew near, special precautions had to be taken due to the fact that the seal keeping the Nine-Tails within her would weaken during childbirth, thus carrying the risk it might escape.

News of Kushina's pregnancy was kept a secret from the general population and the delivery itself would take place in a remote cave away from the village. Minato's predecessor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, organised security: the site would be protected by a barrier, several Anbu would guard the area, and another Anbu and Hiruzen's wife would be midwives. Minato, meanwhile, would monitor the seal, keeping it stable during the delivery and restoring it to its original strength as soon as their son was born.

"MINATO, I AM NEVER LETTING YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kushina yelled with fury, all the while clenching on the steel handles of her bed, bending them.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But please just breathe, calm down, if not for me then for our children." Minato said in a hurried but placating manner.

"Easy for you to say, there's no baby bursting out of your genitalia!" Kushina shouted albeit with a lighter tone.

"Alright you two, that's enough. Kushina dear, the head is crowning just a few more pushes." Biwako, the Sandaime's wife said in a gentle yet stern tone.

"AGGGHHHHHH!!" Kushina shouted in agony for the last time as little Naruto was now in Biwako's hands, his umbilical cord being cut and him being nursed to check if he was alright. As Minato leaned forward to take Naruto in his hands, Biwako swatted away his hands and muttered in a strict tone,

"First the mother than you, you big baby"

Kushina held the little Naruto in her hands. Tired as she was she looked at the toddler. He looked a lot like her. Same crimson hair and same face shape. However when her eyes landed on the eyes of Naruto, she visibly flinched. One eye was a beautiful shade of blur much like Minato's ,while his left eye left her startled. It was a shining shade of gold.

As she looked at his left eye, the blooming feelings of love started to be cornered by already experienced paranoia. She still remembered those eyes clearly. The eyes of legends, the eyes of kings, the eyes of the Royals. The eyes that to this day brought a nigh endless amounts of fear in her.

Destruction brings the Golden Eye.

Rivers of blood flow from the Golden Rain.

Endless power goes to the Golden King.

Why did it have to be her son ? The bearer of the golden eyes had power that could surpass even Gods, if the myths were to be believed. Normally when a boy or girl was born with that eye, their chakra was sealed and they were raised as civilians. The latest bearer of the golden eyes before Naruto had gone crazy after he found out what the clan had done to his kin. As her violet eyes suddenly flickered with small amounts of hate and the colour of her eyes changed to red, she realised her mistake. She had given in to her feelings and now the kyuubi had a stronghold on her. She was left no more time to ponder her thoughts as the kyuubi's chakra ricocheted inside her.

Kushina, suddenly fell backwards, as a foul chakra started to emit from around her belly. Seeing his mistake of letting go his hold on the seal, Minato thought of several ways to counter it. But only one would work.

Slowly hoisting up Kushina, Minato turned to Biwako as he spoke to her with a serious tone,

"Alert sensei and Sandaime-sama that the beast is lose. Tell them to come to the sacred grounds. Take Naruto with you but bring him along with the others." He said, his voice rather regretful for the events that would transpire.

Minato only stayed long enough to see Biwako disappear in a shunshin, along with Naruto, after which he himself vanished in a yellow flash.

~

As Minato reappeared not far from the cave, he gave one hard look at the "Sacred Ground" that he had built. He had taken measures to already build an altar, in case the seal broke.

Looking down with eyes full of sorrow, Minato gently put down Kushina's body-overflowing with malevolent chakra-on one end of the large seal array, just in time to see Hiruzen and Jiraiya arrive at the scene.

"Luck doesn't seem to be on our side, does it gaki?" Jiraiya spoke with a sigh, looking at the chakra flowing in the area, burning the ground it touched.

"No, it doesn't sensei. All it took was a single moment of distraction for the kyuubi to try to force its way out." Minato said, the sadness clear in his voice. While he believed his own words, Minato had a doubt it was something more.

"Doesn't matter now does it, Minato. Let us start the sealing of the Kyubi. Who's the unlucky soul?" Sarutobi responded, interrupting their conversation

"Naruto." Minato said with an underlying tone of finality.

"Oi, oi, you've got to be kidding me, Minato ? He just a toddler he can't handle the entire kyuubi's chakra inside him. And even if he could he shouldn't have to. Please tell me, you're not serious." Jiraiya said with a hint of fear. In all his his years of travelling, he had seen various jinchuriki and even befriended a couple. At the same time however he had seen how they were treated.

An example would be Kumo's current Nibi jinchuriki. While Kumo always kept the transfer of jinchuriki confidential, their jinchuriki would always be treated with respect. This time around, the jinchuriki before the current one had gone missing for a few weeks before one day she suddenly showed up and attacked the village by letting loose the 'Nibi no Bakeneko'. The backlash of hate and anger was still present and now directed towards the current jinchuriki, who was still an innocent toddler.

"I am sorry sensei but nonetheless Naruto is the only valid option. If the kyuubi was to be sealed in any other person then they would die from the overload of chakra in their already developed chakra coils and while maybe one of us might survive the sealing, we would die from chakra poisoning in a few years. The kyuubi would roam free once again and our only defense that is keeping the villages at bay from attacking us would be gone. It would be too steep of a loss and therefore Naruto is the only logical choice." Minato said, not as father or husband but rather the Hokage.

Jiraiya let out a sigh but accepted the practicality in Minato's words.

All three took their designated positions on the altars. Minato gave a look to Jiraiya and Hiruzen and immediate all three started running through handsigns at record speed but in complete synchronisation with each other. Just as they were about to complete the process, all of them froze at their place, paralyzed by the sudden wave of hate and malice.

Suddenly a large appendage launched itself from Kushina's belly and stretched far enough to reach the village. What was probably the hand of the demon fox, now crashed down on the village with vengeance, thrashing about destroying not only multiple houses but also the Hokage tower itself. Seeing the mayhem, Minato steeled himself and broke out of his stupor. He had to seal this beast into Naruto immediately.

"Don't stop ! Continue with the proces and draw the final kanji." Minato said with visible difficulty.Not deterred, they started running through the last nine hand signs.

ToraMi Ushi Hisagi Saru Hitsuji Ne Uma Saru

As the hand signs finished, all of them drew a single kanji right at the circle in the altar near their own position.

天 (heaven,sky)

Fuinjutsu : Tengoku No Shikii (Art of Sealing : The Threshold of Heaven)

The technique activated immediately as golden chains shot from the body of its users. The chains pierced the area of Kushina's seal and quickly did the same with Naruto. As the link had been established, the golden chains pulsed with a red glow as the transfer of Kyuubi's chakra had begun.

The "Tengoku No Shikii" was a rather simple technique in theory. It was created precisely to transfer the Biju from the previous jinchuriki to the next one. The chains would connect with both targets and transfer the Biju. However, the user(s) of the technique were used as the catalyst for the transfer and hence if any low level shinobi uses it they could die from the backlash.

Minato saw as the chains stopped glowing with red colour and disappear as the entire altar he had drawn also dissolved. Kushina was still unconscious but her troubled face was now peaceful. Naruto was also sleeping peacefully, wrapped up in his blankets. Minato had sensed that even among uzumaki, Naruto's chakra was particularly dense. It was why he had used the "Tengoku No Shikii". If Naruto had taken on more from him, he might have had to use the "Hakke No Shiki Fuin" to split the kyuubi in half and only giving Naruto half of the chakra, in the process killing himself.

Dispersing his thoughts, he picked up Kushina's immobile body and gestured for Jiraiya to pick up Naruto. As he looked at the rising sun, he couldn't even start to imagine the events that would soon transpire.

~

Time skip (5 years)

~

"Minato, I'm pregnant again!"

Naruto could never understand his mother's distaste towards him. He had done his best to be a good son, as much one at his age could. While he was a bit advanced in his basic studies than other children, his mother has insisted upon the fact that he could help her in no way. Not in a way that said that she was scared for his wellbeing but rather in a way that said she'd prefer to be nowhere near him.

His father was the exact opposite. It was his father who had taken care of him for the earlier years in his life. His mother would leave milk in the baby bottle but it would be his father who would feed it to him. His father used to take him to his office to take care of him while his mother was doing missions.

It was precisely due to this, that Naruto in his innocence couldn't understand why his mother was so happy when she got to know that she was going to have another baby. It didn't make any sense to him. She had gone out of her way to distance herself from him. Why would she be happy at the prospect of having to do it again?

Maybe, his father was wrong. Maybe, there was something wrong with him. Maybe, in this family he was the odd one out.

"What do you say Naruto?" Minato asked, with a smile on his face and happiest in his voice

And just like that, Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by his father. Now mentally present, he looked at the reason his mind pondered over his mother. In front of him was an academy entrance form. Naruto was alone at his home and his father couldn't take him to his office anymore, so his father had suggested that rather than sitting around he should join the Ninja Academy.

Naruto had made it clear on various occasions that his goal was to be a strong shinobi. Hence, Minato had thought it would be good if he joined earlier considering his higher IQ and his obvious potential to be a ninja. Minato, on several occasions, had seen Naruto's well above strength, speed, his ungodly stamina and his uncanny healing ability.

"It is certainly far better than sitting at home and it would also help me achieve my goal. I think I would like going to the academy very much, Oto-san." Naruto said, also with a smile.

"Great then fill out the form and show it to me tomorrow. I'll sign it and send Kakashi with you to buy the supplies. I have a meeting now, See you at night, Naruto." Minato said with happiness at Naruto's eagerness to be a ninja.

"Very well. Bye, Oto-san." Naruto said as he left the office of the newly built Hokage tower.

Naruto was definitely happy. He was not only going to train to be a ninja but also to train before other children. He only hoped his mother would be as happy as he was.

'I'm going to be the best ninja ever, believe it!'

Just as Naruto was moving out of the Hokage Tower, he heard a voice coming from his father's office.

"... He's the one ... You dont ... I've seen Naruto ... chosen ..."

Naruto immediately stopped in his tracks. Did he just hear his name being called? Wondering exactly what was going on he walked to his father's door, stopping right in front of it

/

"Sensei, he's too young for us to decide anything. Believe me, if what you're saying is true, I will be the happiest person on the planet but he's still too young for us to come to conclusions." Minato said in a rather serious tone.

"You don't understand Minato. I'm the one supposed to teach and nurture the chosen one. I can feel a connection. With you it was more of an educated guess however with him it's a gut feeling. I'm telling ya gaki, Naruto's the chosen one. Just let me train him. Kushina doesn't like having him around anyway. Plus with the baby coming, I'll take care of him and you can focus on the toddler." Jiraiya said with a hint of deception in his eyes.

Minato slammed his hands down onto the table at the blatant attempt to try to manipulate him.

"Don't even try to manipulate me sensei! Look, I understand where you're coming from and just for that I'll let you teach Naruto but only after he graduates. Do we have a deal?" Minato responded, his tone turning from angry to understanding.

"I'll agree to it." Jiraiya responded without a care in the world. Almost as if he hadn't been trying to manipulate Minato into giving Naruto to him for training at the ripe age of 5.

Minato sighed as he felt a shiver run down his spine. His sensei was a crafty man. His skills in deception were far too advanced for Minato to detect. Which only meant one thing. He had something planned and Minato had just fallen in a trap which had jumpstarted said plan. He saw the window as his sensei left, jumping out of it, in a way that was 'befitting of a ninja'.

/

Naruto was shocked. What was a chosen one, why was he one of them and why was Jiraiya-san trying to get his father's permission to train him? Nonetheless, he hadn't time to wonder about such things. He had to go home as fast as possible and show his achievement to his kaa-san. Yes, then she would surely be proud of him.

With renewed vigour Naruto started running towards his house.

However, there was something he hadn't noticed. A kage bunshin of Jiraiya had been spying on him. And for reasons unknown, it was looking down with a forlorn gaze.

~

Kushina wondered where it had all gone wrong. She wondered why she had to live through this agonizing cycle of events day after day without a single break. She'd get up every day, cook breakfast, behave coldly with her son then berate herself for behaving that way with her son, go to the Hokage tower, get a mission, complete said mission, come home in a few days and sleep for a while before repeating the same cycle every week.

As she prepared lunch in the kitchen, she heard the door click and the pitter-patter of light footsteps approached the kitchen. Just then, the door opened and Naruto walked in, a look of pride on his face

"Kaa-san look, look, Oto-san gave me an academy form. He said I am already smart enough to join the academy. I promise I'm going to be the strongest ninja possible. I'll be super strong and save you from bad people." Naruto almost shouted in an overjoyed tone. His foxy grin looked like nothing could wipe it off.

Kushina stared blankly at the piece of paper as it waved in front of her in an almost mocking manner. Whatever guilt she was feeling over treating Naruto wrongly was now long gone replaced by a rather toxic mixture of paranoia and fear. In her hallucinations she could almost see that joy-filled golden-eye be filled with malice and deception, trying to manipulate her into thinking whatever demon was hiding using her baby boy as cover was innocent.

She was just letting her emotions get the better of her. However by the Law of Uzu she couldn't and wouldn't let the bearer of the golden eye be taught in the shinobi arts.

Kushina gripped both of Naruto's shoulders in an almost vice grip as she held him rather tightly.

"Look at me and listen to me, Naruto. No matter what happens, you cannot under any and all circumstances join the academy or become a ninja through other means. If you disobey me on this, I promise you, you will get the worst punishment of your life!" Kushina shouted, her tone shifting from strained to almost furious at the end.

"Kaa-chan, you're hurting me." Naruto whimpered, as small tears started forming in his eyes.

"Do you understand, Naruto?" Kushina said in a dangerously quiet tone.

"B-but what about m-my d-dream?" Naruto managed to question in between his small sobs, his arms hurting from the amount of force Kushina was applying.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DREAM AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU! WHAT I DO CARE ABOUT IS MY FRIENDS AND MY FAMILY AND THE DAUGHTER I'M GOING TO HAVE! You? You're just an obstacle that stands in between my happiness and ruins everything it touches! I am going to repeat this once more, so, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Kushina shouted as whatever residual chakra of kyuubi was left, started taking its effect.

Naruto was now frightened. When he had questioned his mother, he had seen her eyes flickering between her original violet and a dark shade of red. It scared him at first. However as he listened to what she had to say about him, he froze.

It was as if something in him had broken as he heard those words come out from her mouth.

'-AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU!'

His eyes looked forward, his face remained blank but his heart had been broken. The words resounded in his head as a painful reminder of what exactly he was to his mother.

An obstacle.

He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. His previously aching arms, now numb. His aching heart, now numb. What would it feel like to be loved by his mother. People said it was one of the best feelings in the entire world. Then why was he alone not entitled to that heavenly feeling. Had he done something wrong? He couldn't understand. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't understand. It didn't matter. Whatever part of him craved his mother's affection had been effectively slaughtered by that onslaught of words by his mother. And if she couldn't understand and support his dream, he wanted nothing to do with her.

"No." He said -not shouted- but still with an underlying tone of finality in his tone.

"What?!" Kushina said, but Naruto noticed her eyes were lacking the flickering effect from before.

"If you can't understand me nor my goals then I want nothing to do with a person like you!" He shouted but still his voice was strained. He ran for his bedroom locking the door not waiting for an answer.

"NARUTO, COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Kushina shouted, the anger in her tone now fading.

"Naruto, come back here!" She said, this time in a lighter tone but still demanding.

"Come back here." She said, as all her energy was drained.

"Please just, come back here dammit." She barely said, her words only a decibel above whispering as her tone was now more akin to that of a person apologising.

She said no more and fell to the ground as all her energy and will power were depleted. She slid down onto the floor, letting loose the tears she had kept in after realising what she had said.

In the years to come she would realise that if not for this incident, Naruto might not have been the same person he would shape out to be in a few years. And while it was painful for both mother and son, it was still essential.

Because this was the moment.

The moment that showed Naruto a cruel reality.

The moment that would soon be the main motivation for his dream.

The moment that set Naruto onto his destined path.

And just like that, Naruto's path in life had been seen.

A path full of sadness and pain and yet necessary.

For it was the path of a Legend.

~

Done.

Finally after months of delay my first chapter of my first Fanfiction is here ! Yay!

Be warned however this will have a ton of differences in plot, characters and other shit.

And lots of mistakes so please do comment on whatever constructive criticism you have .

Soooo...

Bye