DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
Apologies in advance for the short length of this chapter, but it needed to stop here, otherwise it would be ridiculously long. In my experience with other stories, there is a happy medium with the amount of words that is acceptable per chapter. When it's too short, you find yourself unfulfilled and wanting more, but when it's too long, you skip through parts to get to the end. I generally try to write in the middle, keeping your attention while still writing a decently long chapter. Unfortunately, we're still in the backstory phase of this story, I guess you could call it the prologue. Anyways, enough of my rambling, please read, review, and as always, enjoy!
Chapter 2 - An Infamous Night
"Hello again, my rival! My wellspring of youth is overflowing with eagerness for a competition! So whaddya say? Ready for another round?" Guy asked Obito with his signature goofy grin and thumbs up pose.
Obito sighed mentally. Guy had originally named Kakashi as his eternal rival, but no one dared speak the traitor's name in Obito's presence, so the Uchiha had been promoted to eternal rival by default. After all, it wasn't like the options were very rich to choose from. Genma and Ebisu were less than impressive, and Rin didn't have the combat capabilities to be able to face Guy. That left Asuma and Kurenai, but the pair of them were too busy trying to hide their nightly flings from the others to participate in such trivial activities with the taijutsu user.
If he was being honest, though, every time Guy came around and challenged Obito to another competition, it was eating away at him. All it did was remind Obito that Kakashi was no longer here, nor did he want to be here. Of course, he would never tell Guy that, the taijutsu user's emotions were far too fragile for that, so he begrudgingly endured it.
"Not today, Guy. Maybe some other time."
Guy looked utterly crestfallen. He's sought Obito out on this fine evening, looking forward to a blood-boiling match of youth, yet here he was, being rejected once again. Obito did that more often than Kakashi ever did, but Guy understood why. After all, Obito hadn't gained the reputation of the village's number one introvert for no reason.
Losing Rin hadn't helped him either. Well, losing isn't the right word, as she wasn't physically gone. Emotionally, though, she was completely absent from Obito's life. The pair of them hadn't spoken in years, not since the explosive argument that they'd had after Kakashi's defection. Rin had adamantly defended Kakashi, saying that she trusted he would make the right decision eventually and return.
Obito, naturally, had disagreed. He thought that Kakashi deserved to die, especially after selling out so many comrades during the war. They'd discovered that the entire garrison that Minato-sensei was supposed to meet up with on that day had been wiped out before he'd arrived, thanks to the intel that Kakashi had provided their enemies. On top of that, Kakashi had tried to run Rin through with his chidori, that being the capital offense in Obito's eyes.
When the Third Hokage had been informed about Kakashi, a series of meetings had been called immediately. Most of them were held behind closed doors, but any moron knew their purpose. Konoha's entire strategy and tactical plans had to be redrawn in order to counter any additional information that Kakashi may have passed along.
An investigation was also launched into the war's previous engagements, which yielded some rather unsettling results. The investigation revealed that a horrifying fifty percent of all casualties up to that point had been caused by Kakashi's information leaks. Now that number was up for debate, and was impossible to accurately predict, but most of the Konoha Jonin knew that it couldn't be very far off.
All of that had taken place on the day that Kakashi had been officially named a missing-nin by the village. Obito and Rin hadn't spoken since. In fact, the only people that Obito regularly associated with were Gai, Minato, and Kushina. By extension, Master Jiraiya, but he was seldom in the village.
Luckily, the Sandaime had been able to turn the tide of the war by sharing intelligence with Suna, their ally. The war had ended some years ago, but it left a disgusted feeling in the pit of everyone's stomach, especially Obito's and Minato's.
Since then, Obito had dedicated himself solely to training. He'd tried to join the Anbu, but Minato had immediately denied the application when he took office as the Yondaime. Obito knew that it was to try and stop him from falling into a deep depression, but it was too late for that. All Obito felt nowadays was sadness and anger.
The sharingan came easily to him now, having mastered it in a very short amount of time. Obito's achievements in the final stages of the war after his promotion to Chunin had earned him the title 'Fire Storm Obito'. That had come after his takedown of ten enemy shinobi using only the sharingan and his fire style jutsu. He'd even been honored with a place in the Bingo Book of Iwa, something that was unheard of for a Chunin.
His mastery was so fast and sudden of the sharingan that he'd even managed to impress the clan head, Fugaku Uchiha. Nowadays, Obito had little trouble keeping the sharingan active for long periods of time, as he'd acclimated its body to reduce the amount of chakra that the dojutsu would take.
That brought Obito to tonight. He'd been in a reminiscing mood as of late, which Guy had noticed. Evidently, Obito had been drowning in his own thoughts for so long that Guy had up and left. The self-proclaimed 'Noble Blue Beast of Battle' was nowhere to be found.
Obito sighed and continued his walk through the main streets of town. The shops were open tonight well past their standard closing time, and the streets were crowded, but it was all for a purpose. After all, how many times does a Hokage have a child? The entire village was ready and waiting for the announcement of the baby's birth, something Obito was actually looking forward to for once.
He was a little bitter about being passed over for the title of godfather, but he supposed that Master Jiraiya did make more sense. Anyways, even though Obito was too young to be a sensei, still in his teens, Minato had already asked him to be the child's teacher. They had been really hush hush about the name, though. From what he'd gathered, it had something to do with one of Jiraiya's books, which he now supposed was why the title of godfather was given to the Sannin.
Minato and Kushina had been the two bright spots in Obito's life lately, and he'd vowed to make it up to them someday. He'd lost his best friend and the woman he loved in Rin, and his parents had been less than approving of Obito early on in his life. Even if they approved of his abilities now, it felt hollow coming from the people who had degraded him as a child.
That left Minato and Kushina. His sensei was always warm and inviting, and his very presence brightened the moods of those around him. Kushina was the same way, but she took it to an extreme. Her loud personality and quick temper had the entire village wondering where Minato had gathered the patience to deal with her. After all, she wasn't called the 'Red Hot Habanero' for nothing.
Despite the outside view of their relationship, Obito could tell that Minato and Kushina were happy. That had been evidenced enough eight months ago when the Uzumaki had announced that she was pregnant. And as it happened, she was currently in labor, the entire village seeming to hold its breath in anticipation.
"Hey, look at me, I'm right here," Minato assured, smiling warmly down at the love of his life.
She was definitely in pain, and her beautiful red hair clung to her sweaty face as she scrunched it up with the latest contraction. They were coming so fast now that Biwako was getting ready to start telling Kushina to push.
The kunoichi lay on a stone table designed to keep the Nine Tails from within her from going on a rampage. It was just there in case the seal threatened to break, in which case there would be an entire world of pain for the village, as well as them.
Minato nearly buckled under the pressure that was placed on his hands when Kushina began to push. He could feel his knuckles begin to pop under her grip. He winced, but he knew that his pain was nothing compared to what his beloved was enduring. Her screams of pain were blood-chilling, and Minato was just glad that he'd never heard them before, and would hopefully never hear them again.
After push after push, Kushina finally collapsed backwards on the soft pillow that Minato had managed to procure for her. She breathed heavily as the air was suddenly filled with angry cries from a child. At the far end of the table, Biwako smiled to the pair.
She quickly wrapped the little baby in a soft cloth and passed it to Minato. The Hokage gasped when he saw the baby's face, but quickly passed him to the most deserving person in the room. Kushina's eyes opened at the motion from Minato, and she smiled widely.
"Hey little Naruto. You're gonna be a great kid, ya know?" she said softly, stroking the baby's cheek.
Minato bent down to hug his little family, but was halted when a sinister feeling chilled him to the bone. A surge of power was emanating from the only place in the shinobi world that carried that much chakra. Kushina's eyes widened in fear as she snapped towards Minato. Instantly, she gasped in pain and held her head, nearly dropping Naruto in the process. Minato caught the child and wrapped him in one arm, placing the other on his wife's shoulder.
"Kushina?"
"He's-he's trying to break out!" she cried.
Minato looked to Biwako in fear, both of their eyes showing the graveness and severity of the circumstance. "Can you...hold him?" Minato asked softly.
"I don't know!" Kushina grunted. "He's super strong all of a sudden, ya know?"
Biwako rushed up to Minato. "Take the child to safety. I'll remain here with her. Go! Protect your child!"
Minato looked down with worry at his wife. "Kushina, I-"
"Do it!" she yelled.
"I'll be back," Minato said with determination, disappearing in a flash. His vision settled on the nursery that they had prepared for Naruto. He walked up to the beautifully hand-carved wooden crib and gingerly placed Naruto inside.
Minato tickled the baby's stomach with affection before his eyes hardened once again. "I have to go and help your mom now, okay? We both love you, and we'll see you soon."
Striding from the room, Minato thrust open his closet and quickly donned his vest and robe. As soon as he'd tugged the last sleeve on, a massive rumbling sound informed him that it was too late. A mighty roar accompanied it, signaling that the Kyuubi was out for vengeance against the village.
Setting his mouth in a grim line, Minato teleported back to Kushina's location and found the building completely destroyed. Biwako lay dead against a wall, and Kushina was trapped underneath some debris. Lifting the wood with one hand, he dragged Kushina out from under it with the other, then held her bridal style as he flashed back to the nursery.
"You just stay here with Naruto, I'll take care of the Nine Tails."
"Oh, Naruto," Kushina sobbed, pressing her son close to her. "Minato, be careful."
"I will."
With that, he was gone once again, appearing on top of his own image that had been chiseled into one of the Great Stone Faces. From that high vantage point, he could see the Nine Tails wreaking havoc on the village. It was clear now that the demon had bided its time until Kushina's strength was at an all time low, then pushed against the seal with all of his strength. Unfortunately, the tactic had worked, and it was now unleashing its wrath on the village.
As soon as the beast, with its predatory vision laid eyes on Minato, its rage grew even more. Its maw opened wide, and a large mass of purple chakra formed in front of it. As the sphere formed, smaller flashes could be seen around the Nine Tails, but it completely ignored them, focused solely on the Yondaime.
When he released the Tailed Beast Bomb and it flew towards the Great Stone Faces, Minato countered by raising his hands, a kunai between them. The chakra sphere seemed to melt away into thin air, but a massive explosion over the mountains revealed what Minato had done.
Not wasting any more time, Minato flashed to the walls of the village, ending up directly above the head of the demon fox. He bit his thumb and flew through several hand signs before lowering his outstretched palm.
A second later, three massive toads appeared in a puff of smoke. The largest Gamabunta, landed on the Nine Tails' shoulders, while the other two, Gamaken and Gamahiro, each landed on either side of the Tailed Beast's hindquarters.
The fox roared in outrage, struggling against the weight upon him, but he was immobilized. Not even he could lift three summoned toads off of him. Gamaken reached forward and used his polearm to trap the Nine Tails' right arm as well, while Gamabunta stabbed his blade into the palm of the left hand at the same time.
Minato could literally feel the collective sigh of relief from the crowd of shinobi that had amassed. Obito and the Sandaime were visible at the head of the pack, their mouths agape at what they'd witnessed. Before Minato could even land on top of the fox, he disappeared and reappeared, this time carrying Kushina and Naruto.
He lightly set them down on the grass and turned back towards the fox. "Alright, let's get him back inside of you."
"That won't work," Kushina practically sobbed.
Minato turned to her in shock. "What?! If I put him back inside of you, you'll survive, won't you?"
Kushina shook her head. "I'm still too weak. He'd break out. I have to seal him myself."
"What do you mean?" Minato asked, ignoring Gamabunta repeatedly slamming his massive toad ass onto the Nine Tails.
Kushina smiled sadly as she stood to her feet on wobbly legs. "I'll seal him myself, Minato."
The Yondaime's blood ran cold at that. He shook his head repeatedly, in utter denial of what his wife was proposing. "No! You need to be here with Naruto!"
Kushina smiled sadly as the tears flowed down her face, yet she still managed to make it seem like she was reassuring him. "It'll be okay, Minato. These last few years with you have been the best of my life. Thank you. Take care of our son, I love you."
Golden chains of pure chakra embedded themselves in the ground, as well as wrapping all around the Nine Tails as an extra layer of protection. A barrier was also formed from said chakra chains, keeping all of the village's shinobi from interfering. Then, before Minato could stop her, she made a series of hand signs, and a spectral reaper appeared in the air above her. "Reaper Death Seal!"
"NO!"
"Is that-?"
The Sandaime nodded gravely next to Obito. "The Reaper Death Seal. An ancient and powerful sealing jutsu. She means to sacrifice her own life to seal the beast away."
Obito's head dropped. Yet another close loved one gone from his life. How much more pain would he have to endure? It was starting to get to be unbearable. "She shouldn't."
"I know what you're thinking, Obito, and I'm sorry, but Kushina is doing what she thinks is best for the village."
Obito sank to his knees, pressing his hand to the impassable barrier. If he felt like this, he couldn't even imagine the amount of emotional pain that Minato was going through. Even his ongoing fight with Rin wasn't as painful as losing her for good.
"Kami help them."
"Kushina, no! What are you doing?!"
"Listen to me, Minato. Stay strong for our son. I need you to summon Gerotora."
Minato did as he was bid, knowing that there was no talking Kushina out of this. The extendable toad popped out of thin air and immediately gasped. "The Nine Tails?! I was wondering why those three suddenly disappeared. And the Reaper Death Seal? Right."
The parchment body of Gerotora unfurled, and a jutsu formula appeared on it, Kushina giving him the key to the seals. She then looked to Minato with another sad expression.
"I'm sorry, Minato, but I have to do this. I'd planned to seal the Nine Tails inside Naruto, but a baby can't handle that much chakra, so I'll seal the other half inside of you, is that okay?" she asked as the tears flowed once again.
Minato could only stare at his wife as the tears began to gather in his eyes as well. "I...alright."
Kushina nodded, and the hand of the reaper shot forwards, grasping the fur of the Nine Tails. When it dragged backwards, a blue, fox-shaped mass of chakra flew directly towards Minato's stomach, burning a hole through his black shirt and vest. An intricate seal formed on his skin as well. Recognizing the pattern, he looked to Kushina in surprise.
"You want us to use the beast's chakra?"
Kushina nodded with a smile. "I rarely spoke to the Nine Tails. Even if I was sorry that it had to live like that, I never tried to befriend it. I want the both of you to master its power and make friends with the Nine Tails, just like that Bee from Kumo you told me about."
Minato stood and made his way over to Naruto. He summoned a small stone altar, similar to the one Kushina had given birth on, and placed Naruto upon it. He nodded to Kushina, the tears still flowing down his face. He was absolutely distraught, and he could do nothing about it. The woman he loved most dearly was sacrificing herself for the wellbeing of the two men in her life.
"Before I do the next part, Minato, just know...that you were everything to me. I'll be waiting for you, but don't come too quickly, ya know?" she gave another smile of reassurance, but it did nothing to lift Minato's spirits.
"I promise," he whispered, the sobbing making him unable to speak normally. "I love you, too."
The reaper once again reached its arm forwards, this time dragging the rest of the Nine Tails out from under the three toads. The mass of chakra flowed directly into Naruto, an identical seal to Minato's forming on his stomach.
"Goodbye, Minato," Kushina said at last before sha collapsed into his arms, the life having left her body.
Obito witnessed the whole thing. At the exact moment that the barrier fell, he'd planned to rush forwards and attempt to comfort his sensei, but a head of long, brown hair to his right caught his attention. The woman had her signature purple markings on her face, and the very sight of her made Obito's heart ache.
So instead of rushing to the aid of his sensei, he simply turned back around and walked in the opposite direction, ignoring the looks of confusion from the retired Sandaime and the other shinobi. When he finally made his way back through the crowd and through the village gate, he finally allowed himself to cry.
So what'd all of you think about the modified attack on the village? That's all this chapter was, plus a little of Obito's backstory to fill in some gaps. But since Obito is still alive, there obviously won't be any masked man drama, and Kakashi doesn't have a way to control the Nine Tails without the sharingan, so no dice there. Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. Feel free to drop your thoughts!