I don't own Naruto or it's successive series, that right belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
"Hey" – speech of humans and non-boss summons
'Hey' – thoughts of humans and non-boss summons
"Hey" speech of boss summons and tailed beasts as well as extremely enraged characters, characters enhancing their speech as well as voices coming out of constructs such as the Susanoo.
'Hey' - thoughts of boss summons and tailed beasts.
Let the games being.
Madara and his children
He'd never thought about dying unless it was in battle but if he had to look back on his life and how he had operated throughout, he supposed it could have been worse. A traitor to a village that he had proposed, in that very same instance he'd betrayed the trust of anyone who had cared about him, and even worse he had betrayed his last and only remaining friend, Hashirama, the only person who could see through his hatred and recognize that it came from his love. It didn't matter anymore; all he could do now was give some last words of wisdom to the two sons he left to this cruel world. He wasn't given enough time to teach them everything however he did turn them into fine shinobi and better men if he did say so himself.
Laying in a small cot inside a small cottage on the outskirts of the Land of Fire was Madara Uchiha, his long spiky hair had lost any life it once had being gray and dull now, but he didn't much care for that once his wife passed away from her illness. His dull onyx eyes as sad as they were still held a strength and fierceness to them showing his status as one of the most dangerous and powerful individuals to ever step foot on the battlefield. Most importantly though was the pride his eyes held as he stared at his sons, his pride and joy, he could thoroughly say that he hadn't done a lot of good in his war-torn life however these two boys would embody all the good that he could muster.
He looked to his eldest, Axel, he certainly was the spitting image of Madara, quite fair skin, long spiky hair down to his waist, chin length bangs that framed both sides of his face and covered his right side just past his right eye. If it weren't for the fact that he had those cerulean blue eyes of his mother as well as her blond hair he'd think he was looking at a clone.
He was wearing a short sleeve red shirt, red shorts that came to his knees as well as red sandals. He also had white wrappings around his wrists up to his elbows, and his ankles up just passed his shins. All in all, he looked like if the color red was a woman, he'd marry her.
His other son Minato had mostly shorter spiky hair than the chin length bangs that framed his face, where as Axel took on the much more masculine facial structure of Madara, Minato's face looked a bit more feminine like their mother. The blue eyes and blonde hair were still present in Minato just like Axel however he just looked gentler overall. He wore everything his brother wore except in blue so apparently his favorite color may have been blue. One other noticeable difference was that he did not have the wrappings like his brother did.
"Axel, Minato, I fear my time is up in this world. However, I would like you to know that you two are my greatest joy in life. I've done all I can do to teach you both how to be better men than I was in life, and I've given you the absolute best training in the arts of a true warrior that I could in the short amount of time I've had with you," Madara stated in his normally stoic voice, deep as it was it still held pride and love towards them.
"I want you both to find someone that makes you happy beyond belief and hold onto that feeling for dear life. That is my wish for you as it will bring you more happiness than any victory in battle, any success in training, if you have that one person you can always come back to who loves you unconditionally you will never want for nothing more, do you understand what I'm saying?" he breathed out with difficulty.
Even as they both nodded their heads, he could tell they weren't completely aware of what he was trying to say, all well, this was a lesson learned the hard way for some. "My inheritance for you is in each of your rooms, so as soon as I ascend or descend just look for it and all will be well." Madara had stated in his certain voice.
It didn't bode well with the more calculating Axel, "What do we do after you die Father?" he asked rather innocently which even in his prepubescent years sounded pretty deep for an eight-year-old, yes just like his father. At that Madara smiled, the question was more akin to how can I keep my brother safe?
"I want you both to head to the Hidden Leaf and make a life and legacy there. Only reveal your heritage to whoever the current reigning Hokage is and whomever you feel you can trust with your life. Make friends, family, and most importantly don't allow our clan's curse of hatred to take you. When I finally see you in the afterlife I better hear that you both lived full lives or I'll kick your asses," Madara stated with as much hope as he could muster but in the back of his mind he knew how cruel this world could be. He had to keep an air of confidence for his boys though.
"I…I don't want you to go. This isn't fair, what will we do without any parents? How will we survive?" Minato finally spoke up and his question radiated fear. They didn't have their mother very long in their lives because she was taken by illness, and they got to WITNESS old age take it's toll on their father and now they have to live their lives from such a young age? This world really is as cruel as their father always told them, at least they had each other but still… would it be enough?
Sensing the dark path Minato's thoughts were taking Madara decided to speak up, "Enough doubts Minato, you both are strong, much stronger than I was at your age, you'll make it through this, and you'll do it together. No matter what you can always lean on each other. Have I made myself clear?" the question was rhetorical but also not, however even if they did answer his tone left no room for doubts in their young minds and they could truly feel the indomitable hope and trust he had for his children.
Before they could say anything more, he spoke up again, "As soon as both of you become Genin I want you to sign your respective summoning contracts I gave each of you. If you do reveal your heritage to the public, my recommendation is to wait until you both become Jonin or one of you makes Hokage," his words were slowing down and didn't have as much strength as the beginning of the conversation, they could tell it was here.
"Last thing, I want you to know that I love you both and am equally proud…of…you," he barely got the last words out before his head fell to his pillow and his eyes closed for the last time both hands going limp at his sides. The dam broke for Minato, he collapsed at Axel's side sobbing and all Axel could do was put up a strong front and hold him. 'I must be strong for him, we've got no one else so it's just us from now on, I refuse to cry when he needs my help," were the thoughts swirling in his head as his brother's grip on him tightened.
Minato cried so much he had fell asleep within half an hour and Axel took him to his room and laid him down on his own cot. Stopping at the door before leaving, now crimson eyes looked upon his brother's sleeping form preparing himself for what must be done now. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you out of this, but I don't want to have to bury another of our parents, not after what happened last time, it took a week for you to finally function again," with that small whisper he left to do what would probably be one of the most difficult tasks he'll ever commit to, burying his father. Axel was a bit closer to Madara than their mother so this would be worse than when he aided in the burial of their mother.
Minato
What felt like days would go by but, it was only a few hours was all it took for Minato to finally wake up and find his brother sitting outside their small cottage in front of a headstone that stated –
'Hear lies Madara Uchiha, once clan head of the Uchiha but in death a mere family man and father of two. His memory will never be forgotten and shall live on in his progeny'
"Your handwriting is getting better," was all Minato could say as he sat down next to his brother hugging his knees to his chest. "I guess so, not my best work, but I had to try and use a minor lightning jutsu to carve so it wasn't going to come out much better. Apparently, Dad keeps an entire army's worth of shinobi gear in his storage unit but doesn't have a damn hammer and chisel, the irony," it wasn't much but it was just enough for Axel to get at least a chuckle out of Minato.
"I think we should stay until dawn and then pack up what we need and head for Konoha tomorrow. I can't stay here any longer than that or I'll definitely break down again Ax," it was as strongly as he could speak but Axel was still able to hear a slight voice crack, it took everything in Minato's power to make that simple statement and it almost made Axel cry from seeing his brother suffering so much.
"Very well, if that's what you wish. I'd prefer to stay a little longer just to see if Dad left anything else for us, but I refuse to make you hurt anymore. We leave at dawn. Get some rest," the tone was said with a degree of finality that only a child of Madara could have. Minato gave a quick nod and leaned his head on Axel's shoulder prompting and eyebrow raise.
"I didn't mean use me as some kind of resting post you know," despite what he said there was a hint of playfulness. "I know but I figured it be fine while we're still children, it'll get weird when we're adults, you know?" He couldn't argue with that logic, so he simply lay his head against Minato's and sat there until they both dozed off comforted in each other's presence.
Dawn came much too early, but they woke up anyways ready to move on with heavy hearts. Minato went about packing up any clothes or belongings of theirs that they may need, sealing it all in scrolls and Axel started sealing all of their father's gear up, at least if they were going to be in a new home they would be prepared for their careers as shinobi. At last, they got around to checking on the inheritance that was left for them.
Axel's room
Axel's was two giant red boxes that looked to be used for storing weapons, big ass weapons at that. When he opened the first one his heart almost skipped a beat. What lay within was his father's gunbai, a battle fan almost looked like an upside down gourd shape with a thick black trim around the edge, and mostly white on the inner section other than the six tomoe on either side and the white bandaged wrapping in the center horizontally across. This was a special weapon to his father even if he used it in a rather unorthodox way, so the fact that he'd passed it down to Axel was an incredible sign of trust. Quickly sealing it into a scroll he looked over at the other box and noticed there was a crest of orange flames on it.
When Axel opened the box, he was quite confused as it was a type of sword he'd never seen before, whether in books, combat, or his father's storage. There was a note with Madara's handwriting so the obvious conclusion was that his father knew there would be confusion and so began to read it.
Axel my son, I've left both my gunbai and this sword from a foreign land to you. I had noticed that much like myself you prefer brute force in combat so I chose a large weapon that could take advantage of your offensive nature. It's called a claymore and while technically it normally uses two hands, I believe your strength one day will be enough to swing it one handed with no repercussions. It has a sealing formula on it that allows it to repair itself by using your chakra and also enhances your fire style jutsus. The gunbai will allow you to both deflect chakra attacks using the Uchiha deflection and you'll be able to mold wind chakra easier thus allowing you to further enhance your fire style attacks. I've picked this particular combination of weapons because your fire affinity is even higher than mine. Take these weapons and protect all that matters and makes you happy.
-Madara
He took another look at the sword taking in its design. It was a shimmering gold along the whole blade with a sealing formula that he couldn't decipher. The hilt was made of silver and the handle large enough for two adult hands was wrapped in black leather and ended off with a ruby for a pommel. Even more strange than the foreign design was the fact that when he touched the handle it gave off a light humming sound as if it was synching with his chakra. He quickly sealed up the sword and headed to Minato's room.
Minato's room
Minato had found two boxes in his room, both the size of a large dagger, one mint green with what looked like a swirl crest, and the other an electric blue with a lightning bolt crest. His main chakra affinity seemed to be lightning, so the blue box seemed to be calling to him. Opening it revealed a tri-pronged kunai with a lightning bolt engraved in the center tip. It wasn't anything particularly special at first glance other than that he could tell it was chakra conductive metal. He sealed the blade in a scroll and looked to the other box and opened it.
It was another tri-pronged kunai but instead of any engraving it gave off an eerie hum and seemed to emit a breeze strong enough to blow his hair about, almost like it was alive. There was a note in this box so he began to read allowed.
To my youngest, I bequeath you two specially forged kunai I had made shortly before what I believed would be my coming death. They were specifically created to compliment your style of fighting. If you channel chakra into the wind kunai it will create a long blade of wind chakra thus enhancing your reach, while if you channel chakra into the lightning kunai it shall produce an elongated blade of lightning. Eventually I expect you to be able to channel multiple natures into each blade to increase your effectiveness in combat. My recommendation is for you to learn a fast, fluid, and reflexive kenjutsu style and then further enhance it with ninkenjutsu. Might I suggest learning Tobirama's Flying Thunder God if you can get ahold of his notes?
-Madara
"So, he left you a note too?" Minato heard Axel say from behind him. With a quick nod Minato sealed the blade in a scroll and stood turning to see Axel leaning against his doorway. "Time to go?" was the question Axel received and as simple a question it was it seemed like there was more, but he must have been imagining it. "Yeah, we got a good bit of ground to cover, and we can't be enhancing our movement with chakra or it might alert the village sensors by the time we get there, you all packed up?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm really going to miss this place, can we come back some time?" at least he harbored no ill will towards the place and that meant that he was coping a little better than it seemed at first. It really does help though that Madara had died peacefully. "We'll be back. After all we have to visit every year just so we can talk to his stone and hope his ghost is watching us, right?" Axel's ridiculous humor was just enough to get a laugh out of Minato. As soon as his laughs died down his eyes hardened, "Let's head out," his tone was strong and certain meaning he was fully prepared. And so they both left the house and took one last glance back before taking off for the Hidden Leaf as fast as their kid bodies could move.
The forested outskirts of Konoha
"We've been running for a few hours now, so how much farther is it?" Minato asked with clear frustration in his voice receiving an amused chuckle from his brother. "A couple days at the pace we're going, we'll be running for another three hours and then make camp. If I'm correct in the direction we're going, there should be a river up ahead as well as a clearing large enough to rest. Dad took me there one time when you and Mom went to town, we hunted some deer there," Axel responded just a little too happily for Minato's liking.
'Is he enjoying my frustration?! I think he may also be enjoying this damn running too! I guess he is a stamina freak though, especially since he's always been an early riser going for those damn runs of his,' although the thought he was actually rather amused that had he actually taken Axel up on his offers for additional physical training they'd probably make it to the village sooner. As it was right now Minato was pushing his body to it's physical limit just to keep up with his elder brother while he hadn't even seemed to be breaking a sweat, he was smiling!
Axel's thoughts were somewhat similar, thinking about the wind flowing threw his long hair, all the sights around him blurring past him, he loved it! The adrenaline, the sights, the smells, the sounds. He felt a little bad for going as fast as he was considering he's had two additional years of training on his brother as well as much more intense physical training, but probably best that Minato see's he needs to work on his physical attributes more. This was just a super convenient way of showing him, also that frustration on his face was hilarious.
Three hours went by, and Minato was laying on the ground soaked in sweat and struggling to regain his breath, meanwhile Axel was unsealing camping equipment from a few scrolls that they had brought in their backpacks, still smiling away. "That was a great warmup but as soon as you recover, we're going to be going over your taijutsu and have a little spar. While I'm fairly certain we'll be the top dogs in the academy, I want to make sure you're at an even playing field as me when we get there. I don't want you complaining to me it's not fair when I beat you at everything," he stated with a smug grin that irked Minato just a little bit and got a twitching eyebrow from him. This was a warmup!?
A few hours later showed Minato already asleep inside their tent, the day was exhausting having to keep up with Axel's running speed and without much time to recover then having a taijutsu bout with him. Even worse was when Minato managed to outsmart him and start hitting him in weak points thus almost taking the win, that's when Axel activated the Sharingan and completely whooped his ass! He got a brief explanation that Axel achieved it in response to their father dying, interesting since neither one of them had gotten it from their mother's passing, maybe there is an age requirement? Her death after all was three years ago. Or it could be that since she wasn't in their lives as much that there wasn't quite as strong an attachment to her as the bond that Axel forged with their father.
That thought made Minato feel like a horrible son. The idea that he somehow didn't love or care enough about his mother to awaken their family bloodline limit that was triggered by losing those most precious to you. In the end he stowed that thought away though because while she was still alive, she was his most precious person, the one person he'd do anything for no matter what it may be. So, with that inner turmoil dealt with he went off to get some sleep.
Axel
Axel was merely staring down at a shoddily built campfire, knees pulled up to his chest, thoughts swirling around.
'His taijutsu style is more dangerous than mine by a fair margin. Funny since I'm stronger but like dad always said, brute force and raw power can only get you so far. If it wasn't for these eyes I would have lost. I need to learn an actual style instead of just being a brawler. Beside the point, I am proud of him, even though he's had two years less of training and he was physically still exhausted during our fight he still almost beat me, he's definitely a genius, to what extent I'm not sure,' were Axel's main points in his head producing furrowed eyebrows. Before he could think any further, he suddenly let out a loud yawn stretching out and cracking his neck. "Whelp, time for sleep. The sooner I fall asleep the sooner we can take off," he stated to no one in particular as he stood up and smothered the fire with a small water jutsu. When he walked into their tent, he couldn't help but smile down at Minato's sleeping form in pride. Grabbing a blanket he quickly found himself a spot on the ground and curled himself up soon letting sleep take him.
The morning came quicker than they would have preferred, and Axel couldn't help but be amused at Minato's undecipherable mumblings. They ate breakfast, some fish that Axel caught in the river nearby as soon as he woke up. Minato still couldn't figure out how he always had energy this early in the morning, the sun wasn't even up! As soon as they were done eating, they packed up and took off again and it wouldn't be until the next day that they stopped, somewhere along the way they walked for awhile for Minato to recover as he just couldn't put out the same energy. Eventually Axel just piggybacked him until they reached the outer edges of Konoha in the early morning based on how dark it was still.
"You're a stamina freak and a work horse, and I commend that. However, I'm quite certain I'll never have your energy," Minato stated offhandedly as they stared up at the walls of the Leaf Village. It was quite the sight since they were basically country folks by all definitions. If Axel was surprised, he didn't show it as he walked up to the gates. He noticed the check-in/check-out station and walked over to meet a couple of shinobi in chuunin uniform, of course he didn't know that it was the chuunin uniform but frankly he wouldn't have cared much anyways.
"Hello, my brother and I are a couple of wandering orphans looking for residence, our last parent just passed away a few days ago and we were told to come here by him," Axel began and noticed one of them nodding off while the other one wasn't really paying much attention, reading some book on chakra control or something. "Well, we here in the leaf aren't known to turn away orphans so just head on in, but first let me take down your names," the reader stated. 'What a crappy security, what if I was loaded with explosive tags or something?' was the only thought Axel could get out.
"My name is Axel Namikaze and this here is Minato Namikaze," he stated pointing to him and his brother respectively. He was told not to announce their heritage except to people he could trust with his life or the Hokage and he planned to stick to that advice. "Is there anyway we could get a meeting with the Hokage as well?" he added before they could respond.
"Well, since you're also going to need living arrangements made and possibly have to figure out whether your going to join the academy or be a normal civilian, I don't see why I can't at least have an ANBU escort you," he stated offhandedly and seemed to make some kind of weird motion towards one of the trees and a shadowed figure popped down in front of them. They both noticed that the figure had a black sleeveless shirt, long black pants, black sandals, and long black gloves that ended just above the elbow, as well as a tanto strapped to the back of their waste. There was also a white porcelain mask made to look like a tiger. Clearly this was the black ops unit of the Leaf's military.
"I'll be taking you to Lord Third now," he stated in an almost robotic tone and gave a quick nod to the check-in unit. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders they were surprised when one moment they were outside Konoha and the next they were inside a building right in front of a door to what looked to be an office. Before they could say anything Minato almost stumbled, and Axel grasped his head feeling a slight wave of dizziness from the high-speed movement.
The ANBU member looked to the secretary and stated again in his monotonous tone "These two need an appointment with the Hokage at his earliest convenience please," he didn't even give her a chance to answer as he disappeared in a blur.
"Luckily for you two you came at a time when Hokage-sama isn't in any meetings and seems to have some free time. You may go in now," she said without ever taking her gaze off the paperwork she was looking at.
Axel nodded and opened the door to see a large round room with scrolls both large and small strewn about the floor. In the center of the room was a large wooden desk piled high with stacks of paperwork. To their left on the wall was photos of what they could only assume to be all three Hokage and directly ahead behind the desk were seven windows that would easily allow the Hokage to watch over his village right from his office. Lastly, staring out one of the windows was a man in a white cloak and for Axel what looked to be a funny looking white hat with a shroud around the back and edges, his hands were clasped behind his back as he stared down at the village. When he turned around, he gave them an almost grandfatherly smile but seemed to recoil in shock when he saw Axel, it only lasted for a split second, but it was there. He seemed to be in his early forties.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Lord Third, my name is Axel Namikaze and my brother here is Minato Namikaze," Axel stated with a slight bow and Minato followed his example. "Well, what manners for two at such a young age, what can I do for you young gentlemen?" he asked in a tone that seemed as if he already knew but just wanted confirmation. "We recently lost our remaining parent and were told to come to your village to live and potentially seek a career in the shinobi world," Axel wasn't much for politeness and respect unless you earned it but hearing about some of the things this man had accomplished before Madara and Hashirama founded the village and even after was more than enough to earn his respect, so respect him he did and it showed in his tone.
"We're not normally a village that turns down orphans and I can tell by the way you both stand and the fire in your eyes that you already have training in the shinobi arts, so I would be happy to house and help you," he stated with that same smile he greeted them with. "But of course, where are my manners? I am Hiruzen Sarutobi and as you already know I am the third Hokage reigning over this village," he added almost embarrassed with himself. They then went on to talk for awhile about living arrangements and enrolling in the academy when Axel finally decided to finally speak up about their heritage.
"So…I probably should have said this before but uhmmm… we're the sons of Madara Uchiha," he said offhandedly with a sheepish grin while running his hand through his hair. The pipe in Hiruzen's mouth fell out and he hit the ground unconscious. "Well, I wasn't quite expecting that reaction. I guess finding out the greatest traitor had children and sent them to the village that he betrayed WOULD do that to most people," Minato said while poking the older man's face.
Hiruzen wouldn't regain consciousness until half an hour later and Minato used that time to read some of the random scrolls lying around, he knew he SHOULDN'T buuuut… he couldn't help himself especially at the prospect of potentially finding the jutsu his father told him to learn. The Flying Thunder God, also known as the Flying Raijin or Hiraishin, a technique of instantaneous teleportation. From the stories his father told him, it was how Tobirama defeated their late uncle Izuna, a technique so potentially powerful in the right hands it could even the odds against the heightened perception of most dojutsu including the Sharingan. He HAD to have it but as he went through the scrolls he couldn't find anything remotely related to the technique and so when he heard Hiruzen stirring he put what he was reading down and stood at attention in front of the village leader with Axel to his left.
"Alright, so if I heard you right, you said that your both sons of Madara Uchiha?" he asked incredulously. IF it was true he had two upcoming shinobi with more potential than even he could guess, problem was, he didn't know how right he was about that.
"That's correct, Father passed three days ago of old age, our mother died of an unknown illness three years ago, she was where we got the Namikaze name. Father clearly told us not to tell anyone we didn't trust with our life or whoever the reigning Hokage is, but by all rights we are Uchiha and technically of basically royal descent compared to the rest of the clan. We'd prefer if you didn't let this information out," Axel stated trying to clear up any potential misunderstandings before they could happen.
"How can you prove to me you're telling me the truth? Just because you have the same hairstyle and similar facial features doesn't make it the truth," it was a simple request, just show ONE thing to confirm. Axel activated his Sharingan but it still wasn't quite enough for the older man. "I can tell your adamant about this however I'm somehow still not convinced about it. Would you mind doing a blood test?" he asked with some… hope? Not the kind of emotion Axel or Minato would expect considering they're immediate descendants of the village's greatest traitor, how odd.
"I have no problem with that however the results cannot get out, and Minato doesn't really like needles, so good luck with that," Axel responded with a slight snicker at the end. "I am perfectly fine with needles Ax! I just can't watch, they make me nervous," was Minato's indignant response to his brother's teasing with a smack over his head. One thing was for sure, even if they aren't who they say they are, things will be very interesting among Hiruzen's shinobi ranks with them around.
"I'll have my student Tsunade do the tests. She's arguably the greatest medical shinobi in the Elemental Nations and she knows everything about the human body. I'll have her take the blood sample and keep it secret from everyone other than myself," Hiruzen stated with pride for his student. "That should be fine, if she's sworn to secrecy, preferably make it a village secret as soon as it's confirmed. I shouldn't need to tell you the possible consequences of our heritage getting out in not just the village but across other lands as well," clearly this child was already aware of politics and was actually somewhat versed in it too based on that statement.
"There are many in the village who would call for your execution and even if I did deny the demands there would be some who would try to do it themselves. As for other villages, I fear they'd band together to wipe us out before you two could mature. Fear not, for yours and the village's sakes your secret will be safe between us and Tsunade. Now is there anything else I can assist you with before I have to get back to this dreaded paperwork?" he responded while trying to stare the stacks of paper into oblivion to… hilariously, no effect.
"That should be it Lord Third, are you normally available around this time of day?" Axel just needs to figure out when he could visit in case shit ever hits the proverbial fan. "Normally, yes, unless we're ever in a state of increased activity, emergency, or war. I'll send Tsunade for you as soon as we're ready to do the blood tests, oh, and here are the keys to your new apartment, one for each of you. One last thing, will you need a monthly allowance or did your family leave you an inheritance to get by?" he needed to make sure they could get by after all they can't apply a job and they couldn't do any kind of missions with being at least genin.
"Shit, money slipped my mind. Unfortunately, by the time mother and father had us they were merely living off the land so unfortunately no we've got no money just our shinobi gear and basic living accommodations, furniture, stuff like that. We may have raided the whole house, hehehe," was Axel's response with a sheepish grin. "I'll have arrangements made to get you an allowance then," Hiruzen assured them with a grin. With that Axel and Minato gave a quick bow and left the office, wandering through the Hokage tower until finally relenting and asking someone for directions out and then to their apartment. After much wandering through the streets even with directions they finally found the apartment they were looking for and entered.
"It's cozy looking," was Minato's short comment. "Yeah, two rooms, one bathroom, kitchen/dining room, and a living room. Nothing too fancy but even father didn't care for fancy while we still had him so I'm not particularly disappointed. Let's start unsealing the furniture and what not and then claim rooms," Axel responded in a relatively bored tone.
It took them about an hour to get everything settled and when they were done even Axel was exhausted. It said 6:30 A.M. on the clock that was oh so generously provided to them, that meant a half hour to get to the academy. If Axel was correct, it was the building right next to the Hokage tower so at least he knew the way. If he was wrong then, oh well, it's his first damn day in the village.
The Academy
The room was filled with endless chatter about this and that, aspiring dreams of being shinobi, some children munching on chips, some brooding, some not talking or having any emotions, and even some muttering things like "What a drag", but it all stopped once the teacher walked in with two blonde boys in tow. The teacher looked to be a chunin if his uniform was anything to go by, blue shirt and pants and the chunin vest, he was bald and had a scar going over his left eye.
Coughing to get everyone's attention fully his voice was deep and gravely "We have two new students joining us today, they also just joined the village, so I expect you all to welcome them and help them get adjusted. Now if you two would introduce yourselves we can begin," He stated giving them the floor. Obviously, the outgoing type and possibly a little overconfident Axel started first.
"I'm Axel Namikaze and as the instructor just said my brother and I just moved in and can't wait to get to know you both on and off the battlefield," throwing in a quick wink to some of the aspiring kunoichi in the back which had the desired effect of making some of them squeal like fan girls. He then pushed Minato forward, so he was the focus of the class. "Just say anything dude, no need to be shy," Axel whispered in his ear after noticing his nervousness. After a moment of gathering his wits with everyone leaning slightly forward expectantly, he finally spoke.
"Hi everyone, my name is Minato Namikaze and I look forward to one day being your Hokage!" he damn near shouted at the top of his lungs. He got a bunch of murmurs and almost lost his nerve when a red haired kunoichi with a round face and probably the most beautiful violet eyes he'd ever seen slammed a hand on her desk for attention. "You'll have to fight me for it! I'm gonna be the first female Hokage, ya know!" she yelled and got a bunch of laughter and comments about being a 'tomato head' and other stuff. All Minato could do was watch as she then rather ruthlessly beat the crap out of the ones insulting her, quite mesmerizing to be honest. Nah, he didn't like it, not even a little bit. Later when Axel would ask about it, he'd beat the crap out of Axel in denial… yup.
Funny enough the brothers got seated in the two empty seats next to the red-head, and Minato could feel the aura of rivalry emanating off her. He didn't mean to find any rivals, he just felt like becoming the Hokage would be a nice gesture for his father since he couldn't be the Hokage. Axel was not helping the situation at all though with his damn commentary. "Looks like you've made your first friend and rival Minato, good job. I knew you had it in you!" and then came the tomato comments which ended up in her chasing him around the classroom which Minato had to admit was hilarious because try as she might, she couldn't catch the slippery bastard, Axel would dodge at the last moment whenever she thought she had him. As amusing as it was the instructor decided to finally step in and break it up. This was a school after all, and it was time to learn. They started with the basics like history, math and science, then went for lunch. After lunch it was chakra theory and control, taijutsu and bukijutsu. It was odd, this seemed almost rushed but only Minato thought that.
The brothers got into a comfortable routine of coming to the academy learning how to be a shinobi, what's expected of a shinobi, so on and so forth. The favorite part of the day was Axel teasing Kushina, which was what they found out the red-head's name was. Axel eventually caught the eye of one Mikoto Uchiha, a dark-haired beauty in his eyes, she was slender but in shape and she had what looked to be the softest black hair he'd ever seen along with onyx eyes that he sometimes couldn't tear his gaze away from. It was as if he was staring into a void and the void was staring back. The fang-like bangs framing either side of her face just made her cute as a damn bunny. Mikoto was very friendly and outgoing just like himself so they got along well, they would even hang out quite often outside of school but he noticed he was receiving the ire of a Fugaku Uchiha whenever he talked to her. Jealousy, that was a hilarious emotion considering the fact their only friends but hey, that's what you get when your good with the ladies, or something like that anyway. He didn't have any intentions of sweeping her off her feet or anything to that effect, so he didn't care much about Fugaku's attitude towards him.
The only actual problem that he got from hanging out with her was Minato's incessant teasing that he had a 'girlfriend'. Ultimately, it was kind of funny that if his friendship with her did turn into dating he would have accidently ended up dating a clansman which in retrospect would be a neat twist of fate.
The end of the week came, and they got a knock on their door half an hour before the academy. Axel was the first one up so he went to open the door and noticed it was slightly caved in. 'What kind of monster does that while KNOCKING?' was his thought before opening it and he took it all back. She was HOT, dressed in a long sleeve black shirt, black pants, the standard shinobi wrappings and sandals, as well as a jonin vest. Her long blonde hair was in two pig tails in the back, she had honey brown eyes and a cute angular face but the main thing that got Axel's attention was her… impressive assets that he could see even through her vest.
He must having been staring because she coughed into her hand to get his attention. "You know if you weren't a child, I'd be pummeling you into a puddle of human goop right now. I suggest you stop staring now," she stated with CLEAR irritation, and he quickly focused on her face. Damn, she was beautiful, but he shook his head to clear any thoughts. "Is it safe to assume your Tsunade?"
"How very astute of you, and yes. I'm supposed to be doing blood tests on you and your brother. Where is your brother?" she responded, and Axel gave a quick whistle towards Minato's room. "Would you mind hanging out for just a moment for us to get ready? We have the academy in a half hour, so we'll be booking it as soon as we're down," he asked a little sheepishly.
"That's fine, other than this, I have the day off," she was quick to wave him off and he took that as the affirmation to get dressed.
When Axel walked back out, he was in a high-collared blood red long sleeved shirt and blue pants as well as black combat boots. Minato followed close behind in a similar outfit but with a forest green shirt. She raised a delicate eyebrow at them and took it all in. "You know, when you two grow up you'll be a couple of hearth throbs," she stated with a smirk and Axel merely smirked back while Minato scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, let's get this over with," Axel stated as they all walked out of the house, Minato locking the door behind them and Tsunade took off with a sprint to the hospital, the brothers barely being able to keep up.
Hospital
They were given a private room in the hospital with the door being sealed off for privacy, ANBU stationed outside the door. "So, if what Sensei has told me, you two claim to be the sons of Madara Uchiha," it wasn't a question, it was a statement that merely denied the plausibility, she received nods nonetheless. "Luckily, we have blood samples of everyone who has ever been registered as a citizen of the Leaf. I'll try and make this quick but it is a delicate process as are all medical procedures so just do what I say and we should be able to get you to the academy on time," she said as if she were talking to her own children. Something wasn't quite right here; she was being too nice too fast to a couple of strangers regardless of them being children. Axel did a little research while out of school, this woman is a Senju, she should be showing distrust towards the brothers regardless of whether their claims were founded. He left his thoughts at that, but he would be keeping an eye on her, their father did always say to look underneath the underneath after all, unbeknownst to him his brother was having similar thoughts.
It took an hour just because she wanted be thorough and ran the tests multiple times, Hiruzen had come in to the room at some point in time to hear the results first hand. "Well, their story checks out, the blood of Madara Uchiha runs in their veins only mixing with a DNA we don't have on record," Tsunade finally concluded getting a heavy sigh from Hiruzen. "So…you believe us?" surprisingly it was Minato who spoke up.
"I believe you, after all I can't just make you go through this and then deny the results, can I? My question is this, what is your goal in living here in Konoha?" Hiruzen responded. "Well, apparently Minato's goal is to become Hokage if his little outburst in the class was any indication and I suppose I can help him achieve that. Father told us to make a life for ourselves and not give in to the clan's curse of hatred, I intend to take those words to heart. I don't personally have any aspirations, but I can help my brother achieve any he might have, and I will destroy anyone who threatens him," the fire behind his eyes showed Axel was dead serious about it, and with the blood of a certain someone flowing through him Hiruzen was sure that he would one day be able to commit to that claim.
"Very well, I look forward to Minato taking the hat from me or whoever my predecessor may be at the time," Hiruzen stated before heading back to his office and that 'demon' known as paperwork. One day he would find the secret as to why Hashirama never complained about it, only ever seeming happy when he talked about the paperwork. Tsunade turned to the two boys. "Well, apparently, he believes you'll do it so, I guess that's a blessing of sorts. Sorry for keeping you from school this long, just let your instructor know you were visiting with me and the Hokage and you should be fine," she turned back around and began sealing up the bloodwork meticulously making sure no one could get a hold of it. For now Hiruzen was keeping his word.
The academy
It only took them ten minutes to get to the academy, but the run felt like hours, both brothers stewing in their own thoughts; Minato still thinking about the strange acceptance from Tsunade and Axel thinking about the strange pride? Yes, that's what he would describe Hiruzen's tone to have been once he found out about Minato's goal. Konoha was strange, certainly not perfect, but very accepting for some reason, though based on why the village was originally founded it was understandable to a degree.
They walked in and quickly explained why they were late to the instructor and took there seat next to Kushina, who raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Minato stated he would explain later. Even if he didn't tell her she wouldn't mind because after all everyone had their secrets, and she had a big one.
Class went on uneventfully and it was finally lunch time and the brothers were propped against a large tree outside the academy joined by both Kushina and Mikoto when Axel stood up with a fire in his eyes, "I've decided it!"
"What have you decided Ax?" Mikoto had thought that was such a cute nickname that she had to start using it too, and with the tilt of her head it was damn near impossible for him to not just squeeze her from adorable overload. "I'm going to be a sword master one day, I've seen a bunch of the shinobi running around with swords and our mother was considered a sword master so… I just seem drawn to a sword whenever I look at it," Axel explained and couldn't help but be embarrassed at making such a big deal for such a small decision.
"I think that's a wonderful aspiration! Not only would you be following in your mother's footsteps, but we don't have enough kenjutsu masters here in Konoha, maybe one day you could even be regarded as equal or even better than the seven swordsmen!" Mikoto assured him, hands clasped together with such a sweet smile it was almost like he just he ate a spoonful of sugar. The funny thing was it was almost like SHE was daydreaming about HIS aspirations.
"So, what is it you each want to do as shinobi?" was his simple question but it could reveal so much about a person if you looked a little deeper at the answers. "It's a little unorthodox considering I'm an Uchiha but I want to be a medic nin, I'd much rather save lives than take lives, technically I SHOULD be on the front lines but it's not quite me," was her response and it solidified Axel and Minato's theory that she may even be too kindhearted for the shinobi life. To be fair who were they to say anything when she still found a way that she could serve and protect the village. "Combat medic huh, I like it. If you want, I have no problem helping you get there, I'll train with you if it suits your fancy," Axel's offer was taken with a smile and nod.
"You already know my goal; I'm going to be the Hokage whether it be the next one or the one after that. I think I might become a ninjutsu specialist in the meantime, I've got plans on how I want to go about my training and if all goes well, one day they'll hail me as the fastest man ever," Minato was not a boastful person but being around Axel just brought the Madara out of him.
"HMPH! I've already said it, but you'll have to fight me for the position, ya know!" was Kushina's indignant response to that. It only got chuckles out of everyone however, it did spark a kind of rivalry in Minato.
The time flew for them, Axel and Minato going to class then hanging out a bit with their friends after school, whoever had time. They would then go to one of the few training grounds available to academy students and work on using the weapons passed down to them as well as chakra control and learning as well as mastering ninjutsu. They also had joint sessions of fuinjutsu, while Axel couldn't quite grasp it like Minato, his impulsiveness lead to more discoveries and he seemed to catch things here and there that even Minato didn't. He'd even been able to point out flaws in the books and scrolls that they had access to. It was impressive no matter how many times he would claim to not have any affinity towards the art of the seal.
5 years later
A thirteen-year-old Axel and an eleven-year-old Minato were getting ready for the academy, it was the day of graduation. They would finally meet their jonin instructor and start taking missions as official shinobi of the village. It was time for them to make a name for themselves.
Axel walked out of his room not much changed by time other than taller, but there was one noticeable difference. He had the dark red armor that Madara and Hashirama were known for, plating on the chest, shoulders, waist and back. Minato didn't wear the same armor but he did honor their father in that he grew the back of his spikey hair out to reach his waist while keeping the chin length fangs in the front.
"You ready Mina?" Axel said, it was rhetorical, he knew his brother was excited.
"Yeah, let's make father proud," Minato responded with hope and strength.
They began their trek towards the academy, people giving nods of greeting and acceptance. They returned the nods and continued their trip forward excitement running through their veins. They met Mikoto along the way and she of course joined them, chatting about possible team placements and what not they reached the academy in no time. They unfortunately had to split up when they got into the academy due to having different seats from Mikoto. The instructor walked in half an hour later and everyone quieted down, such respect!
"Today, I am proud to announce those of you who have kept up will qualify for graduation! I am proud to have taught you and instilled the Will of Fire upon you all. I will now announce the teams," at that part Axel started tuning everything out until his came up.
"Team seven; Axel Namikaze," Axel sat up, "Minato Namikaze, and Mikoto Uchiha. Your jonin instructor, Jiraiya the Sannin," Axel jumped from his seat and gave a "YEAH!"
Everything else didn't matter Axel was on a team with his brother as well as another Uchiha, Hiruzen did this on purpose and he did not mind. For Axel it was HIS dream team, his best friend as well as his brother. Jiraiya, huh? He'd heard a great deal about that man, student to the current Hokage, as well as self-proclaimed super pervert. As bad as that sounds, the man was easily one of the most powerful shinobi in the entire Elemental Nations. Yes, this would work out well, he just had to get Jiraiya's perverseness under control. They were told to wait for their sensei and luckily Jiraiya was the first to come along and tell them where to meet.
They met outside a hot spring and saw the man peeking into the women's side. "Shouldn't we stop him?" Mikoto asked clearly weirded out by his behavior. "I've got an idea," Axel said and made a few hand signs transforming into a woman who had his hair and eyes but had WELL defined breasts and a more feminine face as well as a blood red kimono. "EEK! A pervert! Staring at the women's bath, have you no shame!?" he yelled in a girly voice and waited for the chaos to ensue.
Half an hour later they had finally dragged him away from his beating to training ground seven. "So, sensei what are we doing today?" Axel asked with an all too innocent tone like he didn't just get Jiraiya beaten the shit out of. The glare he got could have killed but he just shrugged it off like a minor nuisance.
"Well, technically speaking, you're not actually shinobi yet. We jonin are supposed to do a test to make sure your worthy but believe it or not I specifically requested you three as a team, so it's not required," he answered as they gasped but then relaxed as soon as they found out he wanted THEM.
"Make no mistake, I will grind you into the ground when we're training, but it's because I believe you can be the best, the new sannin if you will," the stare that Jiraiya gave was unnerving to say the least but at the same time lit a fire in them that wasn't there before. "That being said we should get introductions out of the way, you know, hobbies, goals, likes, dislikes, stuff like that"
"You mind going first to give us an example?" Axel asked getting a grin from Jiraiya. "Sure," he said before taking up a kabuki stance. Right behind him it was as if a sunset appeared with crashing waves over a shore, surely a genjutsu.
"From the North to the South, the East to the West, I am the man who's charms no woman can resist! I am THE Jiraiya the Gallant! And before you say I'm just a pervert, I'm a super pervert!" his introduction received many sweatdrops, Axel resisting the urge to start belittling him, Minato trying his best not to judge, and Mikoto fearing for her sanctity and sanity, Axel was the first to recover, "Yeah that's great and all but what about the rest of the introduction? We already know what your hobbies are"
"Oh yeah, I like toads, women, books, sake and money. I dislike traitors, snakes, and people who disturb my research. My goal is a lofty one, but I want to see a peaceful world where no more wars are waged and we can all find common ground," while most of it wasn't promising, at the very least he appreciated loyalty and his dream was a nice one no matter how difficult. "Alright, you're first red," he stated pointing to Axel.
"My name is Axel Namikaze, I like my friends, food, fire, swords and the color red. My dislikes are traitors, and people who judge others based on their family or bloodline. My hobbies are fighting, eating and training. My goal is simple, to make sure my brother becomes the Hokage, after that I may focus on starting a family," Jiraiya gave him a nod seemingly satisfied then pointed to Minato.
"My name is Minato Namikaze, I like my friends, fuinjutsu, lightning and nature. I dislike traitors and those who judge others for circumstances beyond their control. My hobbies are training and reading. My goal is to become the Hokage and protect this village," another nod and a finger pointing towards Mikoto.
"My name is Mikoto Uchiha, I like my friends, cooking, flowers, and books. I dislike perverts and traitors. My hobbies are learning, hanging out with my friends and flower pressing. My goals are to become a combat medic so I can save the ones I care about and start a family one day," Mikoto gave a heated glare to Jiraiya at the word pervert that even had him wilt under her stare, but he did notice the real quick glance she sent towards Axel at family. Interesting, a little bit of romance in the team, more content for his research! That slightly perverse chuckle and the rubbing of his hands sent a chill down their spines. 'We're doomed,' was the simultaneous thought across all three of them.
Nothing of note really happened for a few months, they would meet up, go through teamwork exercises, go to the Hokage's office for the standard D-Rank missions, and then go back to their training grounds to get completely obliterated by Jiraiya. He didn't go easy on them, he hammered them with whatever the highest level of strength he thought they could take without killing or permanently maiming them was. They didn't complain though, they took it all in stride. Axel especially just constantly wanted more, unfortunately he couldn't get this from his father due to his old age. Minato wasn't quite the masochist that his brother was but still appreciated the training nonetheless as he knew it would get him closer to attaining his goal. Poor Mikoto, while she was progressing as a fighter, it wasn't quite what she wanted but it was necessary after all if she was going to be a frontline combat medic, she would need to be able to defend herself.
The fun part of the training was when Axel randomly summoned a damn phoenix and Minato summoned a fucking thunderbird! Where the hell did they get summoning contracts!? Jiraiya didn't have time to think about it during that session because those birds were DAMN fast. That was the first training session that he got an injury from, nothing life threatening or serious, just a couple of bruised ribs, minor burns on his right hand, and the nerves in his left hand were shocked enough to give difficulty opening it. These damn kids were going to give him a heart attack.
Somewhere along the way Kushina got kidnapped and out of everyone in the ENTIRE village it ended up being Minato, a just recently recognized genin who caught on to the trail. Kumo ninjas, a small group of them, easy enough to handle for a prodigy like him. "How did you find me?"
"I couldn't have missed your beautiful red hair. You did leave me a trail after all," it was sincere, and he gave that smile as brilliant as the sun.
"But why would you come for me? I'm just an outsider," fear, doubt, despair crept through her voice, he didn't like it at all. He preferred her boisterous personality that she showed in class. Maybe THAT was just a mask though.
"I saved you because I don't want to lose you," he responded with some veiled emotion hiding behind his words. It didn't matter to her, she had fallen head over heels for him, for who she thought was just a flaky, feminine boy.
From that point they'd gone on dates between missions and training and Axel couldn't be prouder of his brother… the happiness wouldn't last.
Third shinobi war eight year later
Time FLEW for the brothers, they and Mikoto had gone on to achieve records of missions unheard of unless factoring in the sannin. Jiraiya's tutelage (when he wasn't peeping on women) was godly for each of them. While he himself couldn't teach Mikoto medical ninjutsu, he was once teammates with the greatest medic of all time, so he pulled some strings and got her the training she wanted. Axel had revealed his sharingan to Jiraiya and the brothers both revealed their heritage to him as well as Mikoto. She was a little upset at first but ultimately decided it was for the better. Minato's sharingan wouldn't manifest until much later.
He had taken the jonin exams at the age of fifteen and passed with flying colors going on to take a team consisting of Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara. To Axel they were a bunch of brats other than Rin who reminded him of Mikoto a bit, honestly, he didn't think Rin should be on a battlefield but who was he to judge. Obito was fascinating because he wasn't like other Uchiha, he wasn't talented, he wasn't stuck up, he wasn't a brooder, he was basically an outcast among Uchiha. Axel didn't hate him but… he was disappointed in his lack of talent. Kakashi was talented, arrogant, and a general prick, always adhering to the rules. Axel didn't like him at all and they had gotten into plenty of arguments whenever Axel would visit the team's training grounds. Minato of course tried to keep the peace, but it didn't work too well when Axel tried his best to push any and all buttons that Kakashi had.
Axel and Mikoto made a team together tackling S-Ranks like no one's business. They'd became jonin at the same time as Minato. He wanted more action and harder missions while she designated herself as his personal medic, luckily after Dan Kato died during the second shinobi war Tsunade stayed just long enough to finish Mikoto's medical training and then took off to become a wanderer.
Tragedy struck during the third war, Minato's genin team went on a mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge. Minato left to take another front leaving the newly minted jonin Kakashi in charge. The battle would be important to all their lives, Minato became known as the Yellow Flash for his use of the Flying Thunder God technique and the flash of yellow he left behind. He slaughtered one thousand Iwa shinobi in but an instant. When he found out that Obito had died in his absence he finally manifested his sharingan. They arrived back in Konoha victorious but with heavy hearts.
As impressive as Minato's achievement was it paled in comparison to Axel's. He took on an entire battle front of Kumo and Iwa at the same time. Turns out that word of them being Uchiha got out and the two nations feared what could happen if Konoha was left to its own devices with two new Uchihas of their caliber. He pulled a page from his father's book and quite literally started slaughtering them with nothing but his claymore and gunbai. It was as if Madara had been reincarnated. Rumours started going around of the blond Madara and it terrified the entirety of the Elemental Nations. Ironically, he didn't care much if anyone did make the connection and it was hilarious how much Hiruzen was enjoying the show, the problem was that it began rumors about his brother and that worried him.
After the war was done Hiruzen began trying to find a successor in Jiraiya but he turned the hat down saying Minato was a much better option and so Hiruzen began grooming him for the position. It would be one year later when Minato was inaugurated, and Axel became his shadow. Minato set about investigating any and all dark secrets of Konoha and Axel was more than happy to help. Their first targets were Danzo and Orochimaru. They've known about Danzo's corrupt organization ROOT for years and Orochimaru just wasn't trustworthy. They gathered plenty of evidence but Minato would not get the chance to use it as the night of Kushina's pregnancy would be Minato's last.
Outside the village
Axel was staring up at the nine-tailed fox that had just been released from Kushina's seal. "Fuck! I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can hold it off till Minato get's here, well, here goes nothing," his body became wreathed in fire, and he crouched before rocketing off towards the fox. This was his sage mode, and he may as well have just been a cluster of physical fire at this point, enhanced strength, speed, and a healing factor that could compete with Hashirama's, top that up with nature chakra as well as the ability of flight and right now he was probably the strongest shinobi in the nations right now.
'Dammit, Kushina's on death's bed, Hiruzen's wife is dead, Minato's tied up with a masked man and I've got an overgrown cat who I'm pretty sure knows I'm Madara's son! Not what I signed on for when I became a Leaf shinobi!'
He pushed the fox as far away from the village as possible through barraging it with countless nova like explosions. Best part about this form? He didn't need to take time to shape or mold chakra, he could just WILL it to happen, sick.
Minato was having a less stressful time dealing with the masked individual who FOOLISHLY decided to attack HIS village. There would be retribution. Shit. He was starting to sound like his father and brother. First, he needed information.
With a heavy sigh he stood straight up and glared at the masked individual. A black cloak and that orange eerie mask with one hole for the right eye as well as a spiral coming out from the hole. Not to mention the chain from hand to hand. 'He was capable of getting past our best sensors as well as the village barrier, rip the nine-tails out as well as control it. He's definitely an Uchiha, the problem is the only living Uchiha capable of doing that are myself and Ax, so who is he?'
"I keep pondering my options but I'm drawing a blank. Only Axel and I can do what you've done so who are you?" Minato asked receiving a sadistic chuckle.
"I am Madara Uchiha, come back to get my revenge on this village. And what better way than to use the beast when you have no Hashirama to subdue it with," was the response. He was doing a damn good job of sounding EXACTLY like his father, but Madara Uchiha doesn't boast about things that are bound to fail.
Minato gave a light chuckle that evolved into full blown laughter, the absurdity! How dare this man spit on his father's image! He may have not been the best man in life, but he doesn't deserve an imposter going around sullying his legacy anymore. So, reaching for a seal on his left arm a 'pop' echoed across the clearing and his faithful lightning tri-pronged kunai appeared. "I'm sorry I laughed at you, but you have just made one more fatal mistake," Minato's eyes activated, showing his fully matured sharingan before morphing to look like black lightning bolts among the crimson, it did seem to get a reaction out of the man as he did take a step back.
"And what would that be?"
"Your first mistake was threatening MY WIFE AND CHILD, your second was threatening MY village and your final mistake is pretending to be MY father," with that he took off in a burst of speed aiming to slice the man's head off, but he disappeared in a swirling vortex. Minato disappeared in a flash just as a hand tried to grab him and reappeared across the clearing. "You are as fast as a flash," was the simple remark he got. He stood there dissecting the jutsu used on him in his head. 'On paper that jutsu is superior to the Hiraishin, but there is a weakness. I need to make this quick so I can hurry and aid Ax'
He took off one more time and mere seconds before they came into contact, he flung his kunai behind the man. 'I win,' the man thought with a sinister smirk underneath his mask as he grabbed towards Minato. Just as he was about to touch him, Minato flashed behind him where the kunai was and brought a Rasengan down on his back drilling him into the ground, cratering it and flashed a few feet away. The man stood up cradling his right arm which seemed to be melting and didn't get the chance to do anything before Minato was right in front of him placing a contract seal on him releasing the Kyubi from his control.
Before he could finish the job, the man disappeared in a vortex. Minato turned towards the fox and noticed he was being battered around by a brilliant ball of fire. Flashing away he appeared in his and Kushina's room looking down at her cradling baby Naruto. He stared just a moment longer before speaking.
"You know what I have to do, right?" he asked but knew the answer and her soft broken voice broke his heart. "Yeah, I do ya know. But I don't want him to live the life of a jinchuuriki. All the hate, stares, possible threats to his life," she whimpered as she held the bundle of joy to her chest.
"You'll be there with him as well as Ax, and Mikoto, and Hiruzen. He'll have people around him that will love and cherish him. He won't be alone," it was a weak defense but ironically it did make her feel a bit better. "You won't be there though," ah, that's what it was.
"I know but it's a man's duty to protect his wife and child at any cost. I just so have the additional responsibility of protecting the village too. I truly believe Naruto will be fine. He'll one day master the nine-tail's chakra and hopefully the day never comes where he gets his Mangekyou," he stated before he flashed them to the battlefield.
What a battle it was, the fox couldn't get a hit in on Axel and the man couldn't actually do any lasting damage. It's not like he was trying to kill it but still it was a little unnerving that with all his power he couldn't do any damage unless he actually aimed for a kill. That was not what they needed right now. They couldn't go without a tailed beast, not in today's political climate. The jinchuuriki of the village acts like a guardian of sorts and is prudent as a war deterrent.
He looked back to see Minato and Kushina who was cradling baby Naruto in her arms. He blurred towards them, his sage mode dissipating. "Well? Are you ready?" he asked frustration clearly evident in his voice. He didn't want his only brother sacrificing his life, but he was incapable of sealing arts on this level and none of them have access to Mito Uzumaki's seal that was originally used for both her and Kushina. "You mean am I ready to die? No, not really, but hey at least I go down doing something good," there it is, his nonchalant attitude he picked up from Axel when he was trying to push regret and other negative emotions down.
"Any last words for us, oh mighty leader?" the tone was teasing but Axel was just trying to make him feel better, at least it brought a smirk to Minato's face.
"A few, Kushina, bind him for me," it wasn't in a commanding tone, but she knew not to argue, chakra chains rocketed out of her back and began ensnaring the fox, the only reason she had this much control was because Mikoto had quickly healed her up after he delivered her to safety. "Ax, I'm leaving you as the Godfather, I can't rely on Sensei when he has his spy network. Kushina, live on for me and for our Naru, don't despair, it'll be hard, but you WILL learn to live on. Naruto," funny enough his son seemed to be at attention too, his little blue eyes looking right into Minato's as he drank in the fatherly warmth for the last time. "Grow strong, stronger than me, stronger than your uncle, stronger than your grandfather. Your uncle, mother, and Kakashi will all help you, I love you," he said as he kissed the boy's forehead, looking away before those cerulean orbs could break down his resolve.
"So, a thought occurs, um… how the hell are you going to stuff that bastard's ENTIRE chakra into a tiny child?" Axel's question ironically brought a smirk to Minato's face instead of despair like he expected. "I'm taking half of it with me."
"No! Absolutely not! You are not leaving us without his FULL power Minato!" that was the first time in a long time he used THAT tone as well as his proper name while speaking to him. "What's going to happen if we need his full power? None of us know the Edo Tensei and I refuse to dig up your corpse for any reason period! You will put the other half of that damned fox in me or there will be problems for you when I reach the afterlife!" the tone he used got a few chuckles which devolved into full blown laughter. "As you wish Lord Fifth."
Before he could ponder that statement Minato BLURRED through the hand signs needed to use the Reaper Death Seal and all of a sudden Axel watched as the fox was pulled in two directions: one towards him and one towards Naruto turning into pure red bubbly chakra and absorbing into them. For Axel it was agonizing as already fully formed chakra coils adjusted to this new source of chakra, his nails elongated into full on claws, canines growing longer, and his eyes turning crimson with slit pupils. Naruto was having less stress as he just cried a bit, he didn't need to really adjust to much since his chakra coils were a blank slate. Kushina didn't know who to go to, her brother-in-law was in agonizing pain and her husband was about to be gone forever.
"Dammit woman! Go to your fucking husband! You won't see him anymore after this! He's probably got a few more moments!" she didn't need anymore incentive to rush to her husband who was on one knee panting. "Kushina, well, at least the last thing I see is my son and the most beautiful woman I've laid eyes on," he said before giving her a chaste kiss, it was short and sweet but conveyed their eternal love for each other. That was the last thing he saw and did before collapsing with no signs of life. Naruto was crying and Axel was fighting off the Kyuubi's chakra, just great. She began walking towards Axel, but his shout stopped her.
"Stay the hell away from me before I CAN'T control this! I'm heading off to the Forest of Death! If I'm not back at the Hokage Tower in two hours send Hiruzen, Kakashi and Guy!" he vanished in a storm of fire before she could argue.
She almost broke down right then and there until she felt the hand of Hiruzen on her shoulder. "He'll be alright, I heard everything. The fact of the matter is he's doing a phenomenal job of controlling the power and instincts the Kyuubi's chakra is forcing on him. There are more important matters to attend to. Minato is dead, our new Hokage is in turmoil and the village is in disarray. I'll temporarily take the mantle and call a council to discuss this. We need to tend to Minato's body," he stated and it took a few moments for her to gather herself as they waited for the ANBU to take her husband's body offsite but as soon as that was done they left for the tower.
Forest of death
Explosions could be heard all over the forest regardless of where you were, Axel was moving so fast he was covering the entire grounds in mere instants and delivering chakra consuming attack after chakra consuming attack to anything that caught his sight. Animals were trying to escape but no matter how far away they got they were scorched to nothing. His plan? Deplete his chakra just enough so that the fox's chakra would then focus on restoring his own instead of trying to corrupt him.
It worked after an hour and a half, he decided to channel his chakra into one giant Rasengan that kept growing and growing until it took up a tenth of the forest and he slammed it into the ground, the resulting impact creating a crater thirty feet deep and wide. The surrounding landscape: trees, rocks, caves alike were flattened. He stood in the crater panting, tears streaming down his face, and finally wiped his face and willed the flow of Kyuubi's chakra to stop, he had a meeting to attend, and he was in a shit mood.
