As you can see, this is AU. I don't own Naruto. Thoughts and reviews are very welcome.
Sarutobi Hiruzen. Sandaime Hokage. Shinobi no Kami. A man thought to be one of the strongest in this world, felt utterly helpless. The cause? Kyūbi no Yōko.
The appearance of the force of nature upturned the peaceful evening of Konohagakure. Scarlet flames burned everywhere. Houses were turned to dust, landscape ruined, and people who struggled against the monstrous Bijū, squashed like insects. Such was its might.
Its roar could cause earthquakes; its tails can cause tsunamis, and its mere presence is enough to drive a person into despair.
Still, he fought back. Against all odds, he resisted the mighty Kyūbi before it turned the village into a memory. It has caused so much damage already. Everywhere he gazed, only death and despair remained, only grief gazed back.
"We can't hold it any longer, Hiruzen!" The roar of Enma snapped him out of his stupor.
"Perhaps this is how it'll end, old friend," he mused. Enma, in his staff form, was silent. The monkey king could see why his friend seemed so resigned to his fate. None of their attacks were doing anything to the beast; it shrugged off their techniques like water on a lily pad and regenerated the heavier wounds in an instant.
"Then, this is how we will die, Hiruzen. Side by side, fighting against the forces out of our leagues!"
Hiruzen let out a wet chuckle at Enma's declaration. The Summon was a true friend until the end. The Kyūbi answered their thoughts with a world-shattering roar; some nearby shinobi died from the shock alone and started charging a massive amount of chakra.
And promptly disappeared.
"Minato..!" Hiruzen whispered.
The fox reappeared a bit far from the village, roaring in confusion. Hiruzen could see it and the massive toad boss, Gamabunta, staring down the calamity.
"Maybe this isn't the day we die, Enma!" He jumped and ran towards the battlefield.
By the time Hiruzen arrived, the battle was over. Minato was standing with his hands clasped, a malevolent wraith behind him. Kushina was lying in a field of blood, mostly her own, still binding the Kyūbi with golden chains while it was being dragged into the newborn wailing on a nearby rock.
"Shiki Fūin…" realization dawned on his face, "Minato, what have you done!"
"What I had to." Minato's voice shook with pain, "I've left you a scroll in the hidden compartment, look for it. It'll stand as my last will. I'll leave the rest to you and my….NO!"
Minato moved with all the speed he was famous for, and Hiruzen truly felt despair then. The Fox, in its last throes of rampage, tried to kill the newborn with its sword-like claws. Kushina shielded her son with what last dregs of strength she had left, and Minato followed. Both the parents were impaled to save their last legacy.
Hiruzen never realized that his knees had given up, that Enma was back in his monkey form and holding him down. He never realized that he was screaming. Kushina, the ever-fiery kunoichi she was, performed a series of hand seals and pressed it to the newborn's forehead.
"May you succeed where I failed, my son. Live well. I leave the rest… to…. y..o….u, Hi….r…"
Her breath stilled.
Her husband passed before she did.
Konoha lost two of its brightest stars in a single night.
Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage. The Yellow Flash, was no more. Uzumaki Kushina, The Crimson Reaper, was dead. Hiruzen broke down after witnessing his wife's broken body in the Infirmary.
His family, dead. His students, lost. His village, in shambles. Hiruzen felt every death, every loss, every anguish that he was witnessing around him.
Hiruzen cradled the baby carefully; the seal that held the fox was still raw, and a peculiar raindrop-like spot on his forehead. The newborn wailed like Hiruzen wanted to. But this was not the time for it. He would cry, but not now when his village needs him. He will mourn later, but now this baby and the village come first. He beckoned the monkey king.
"Let's go, Enma. We still have work to do."
And he left, with the boy who had hair like fire that burned the village, and eyes like the water that'll quench it. The last legacy of the Uzumaki.
Uzumaki Naruto.