Minato winced, a kunai striking his right eye and instantly blinding him.

The man in the white mask had certainly prepared around his abilities, that was for sure. Chains, waiting for his guard to be down, pulling out the Kyuubi, attacking his son…this was planned.

Destroying his depth perception was also likely part of the plan.

Minato teleported, appearing on a tag several meters away from the masked man. He needed to hurry, the nine-tails was destroying his village.

His wife was dying.

Luckily, Minato figured out how the warper attacked. He could only attack when tangible.

Quick as lighting, Minato launched himself at the Rogue Uchiha, kunai in hand. As they drew near each other, he launched the blade.

It passed through the masked man.

In an instant, he was behind the Uchiha, Rasengan slamming into the man's skull. The fight was over.

He jabbed his hand into the Rogue Uchiha's chest, forcing the contract with the Kyuubi to be released. With his other hand, he slit the Masked Man's throat.

He needed an eye, after all.

Plucking a hand into his own skull, he ripped out his right eye. He felt nauseated seeing his own eye like this.

Minato couldn't be distracted. He had no time to waste.

Pulling off the Uchiha's mask, he went for—Obito?

His hand froze above his student's Sharingan.

No—no! Why—why would…

He had no time. Minato hissed in agony, forcing his body to move. His fingers grasped his student's Sharingan and pulled.

Like several years prior, Obito would give his team an eye.

It brought him pain to think of—to be reminded of how badly he failed his team.

The red eye was placed in his right socket, green chakra lighting up around his hand. He knew how to heal—it'd been him who had taught Rin to heal.

In a few moments, it was done. He had Obito's last eye in him.

He vanished, appearing back in the village. It was time that he resealed the Kyuubi.

Flames were everywhere, the village on its last legs, the village scrambling to fight without its Hokage.

It was a painful reminder of his failure.

Why would you do this, Obito?

He couldn't do this now. He had to fight.

Launching a kunai onto the monument, he landed on his own face. Seals crackled to life in the air as he held up a tri-pronged kunai, the Bijuudama launched to destroy his village vanishing.

Hopefully, Iwa would like their gift.

He appeared next to the massive fox. Placing a hand on its fur, he vanished.

The village needs a jinchuriki. If it doesn't have one, it'll be ripe for the kill by Kumo. Iwa was going to be down for a while, but Kumo? They were still dangerous.

His wife would not be able to take the beast. Once a bijuu is removed from a Jinchuriki, they are dead. Resealing doesn't change anything.

"Kushina!" He called to his wife. "Restrain it while I seal it into Naruto! I'm going to use the Shiki Fujin."

Kushina, laying on the ground with Naruto in her hands, lurched up. "No! Minato, no! Seal it into me! It'll die with me—don't do this to Naruto!"

He shook his head and ran through hand signs as Kushina's chains burst out, binding the bijuu. "Kushina, the village needs a Jinchuriki."

"You—you take it. Don't use the Shiki Fujin. You know my seal—you know it!" She pleaded. "Not Naruto. Please, Minato. Not him. Please."

His hands froze, one sign away from summoning the Shinigami.

He loved her so much.

Tears trailed down his face as he went through different hand signs. A palm struck his stomach as the Kyuubi was sealed into him.

The beast went down with a mighty roar. In only a moment, there was just silence.

He fell to his knees beside Kushina, water dripping from his eyes onto her cheeks.

"I—I love you, Minato- chan."

He painfully smiled at that. "I love you too, Kushina. I'll raise him right." He swore, tightly holding her hands. "I promise. He'll be strong! I'll keep Jiraiya-sensei from him till he is a teen. He'll be the best of us, he'll surpass us both!"

"I'll hold you to that. I will be watching, Minato-chan!" She went quiet at that.

Tears kept trickling down his face as his wife died in his arms.

And he couldn't stay here. He had a village to lead, a son to raise.

With pain in his heart, he grabbed Naruto in his arms and appeared back in the village proper.

If he couldn't save Kushina…well, he knew of some jutsu. Kushina was going to know her son. She would.

Tobirama-sama proved that the dead didn't always stay dead.

He'd need to talk to Orochimaru.

"Fufufu, Minato-kun. I never expected you of all people to talk to me. Not after…" The Snake Sannin went silent, shaking his head. He gave one of those creepy smiles of his. "Water under the bridge. What do you want, Hokage-sama."

There was resentment in the man's tone, but Minato ignored it. He had larger things to deal with than Orochimaru's petty rivalry.

It'd been weeks since the village was attacked. He had wanted to talk to Orochimaru sooner, but he had been busy. Even with all the Shadow Clones he was using to do his duties, there was just so much work.

Funerals, repairs, missions, paper work, raising his son, getting used to Obito's eye, submissing the Kyuubi—all of it was a lot of work.

"I wish to assist your research."

The Snake's eyes widened. "You do?" He looked pleased.

"Yes." Minato nodded. "You desire immortality. I desire to bring back the dead." He had no reason to lie to the Sannin. He had learned about some of Orochimaru's…methods. He'd be correcting the man.

Orochimaru nodded, his eyes having a sick glint to them. "Yes, I suppose we have similar desires." He mused.

"Yes, Orochimaru." The Jinchuriki crossed his arms. "We do have similar desires. Which is why you'll be getting the village's funding on your projects. But…" Minato began, eyes tightening into a sharp look. "You will no longer be using the village's children for your experiments."

Orochimaru no longer looked as pleased. "So, you figured it out…" The Sannin narrowed his eyes. "Fufufu, I had been wondering why Danzo had disappeared. Very well, Minato-kun. I agree to your demands on one condition."

"That is?"

"An eye like your own."

The blond sage shook his head. "You will not get an implanted Sharingan. The village already knows how I got mine…" He hummed consideringly, putting a palm to his chin. "Actually, what do you think of artificially developing life?"

Orochimaru looked thoughtful. "Cloning or artificial wombs?" The man mused to himself. "Oh, yes. I see why Jiraiya speaks so highly of you. So clever…" He murmured to himself.

"If you can prevent the development of a soul in a fetus, I shall allow you to take the Sharingan from an artificially made Uchiha."

The Sannin nodded, barely paying attention, too deep in his thoughts.

Minato decided that was enough and left. Time he gave the fox one last visit.

"Kyuubi." Minato called out to the beast, its tails and limbs punctured with chains as it was held to the ground.

" Human." The fox bit out in rage, glaring hatefully at his direction. "You will die fo—"

Minato met the fox's gaze, Sharingan swirling.

Fugaku-kun had taught him a couple tricks after he had stood up for the Uchiha clan, exposing Obito for what he had done and getting the heat off their backs.

He'd always been friends with Fugaku, their wives being friends. Naruto-chan was staying at their house right now, little Itachi keeping an eye on Naruto and Sasuke.

All three were so cute, he couldn't wait for Kushina to see them.

Well, now that the beast was under his control, he could change the seal up a bit.

Putting a palm to his gut, the seal on his stomach was exposed and swirled into a new pattern. The Kyuubi was freed from its restraints as it sat lifelessly inside of him.

Pulling himself out of the seal, he was amazed by the golden glow around him. He felt powerful, like he could take on the world.

For the village, for Naruto, and for Kushina? He would.

"Tsunade-san." Minato began, sitting across from her at a bar. "You need to come back to the village."

The woman laughed, taking a swig from her drink. "Ha! Like hell I'm going back to Konoha! All that place brings is pain and misery."

Minato politely smiled. "Regardless of what you think of the village, you are being called back into duty. The village needs your healing expertise."

He slid a scroll across the table to her.

She unraveled it and began to read. She snorted. "Hmph. You think offering me my medical program would be enough to get me back." She rolled her eyes, slamming her drink on the table. "I ain't going back, brat."

"If you read the whole thing, you'd see we are also offering to pay off your entire debt." He offered, ignoring her disrespect.

She began to stand. "I'm not returning."

He smiled sadly. "That's not an option, Tsunade-san." A palm touched her and they were back in the village. A clone had gone and grabbed Shizune.

He swiftly dodged a punch, Sharingan knocking her out.

Her medical knowledge really was needed. He'd learn from her one way or another.

"Sensei." Minato nodded in greeting to his teacher, a small smile passing across his face. "It's been a while."

Jiraiya clapped a hand on his back. "I came as soon as I could. Is Kushina really…" He trailed off.

Minato's eyes looked down. It hurt to talk about, but not that badly. She wasn't dead forever. Only for now.

Jiraiya pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry, kid. I should've been—"

"—don't blame yourself, Sensei." Minato cut in, voice soft. "If anything, it's my fault. I should've trained Obito better."

Minato spoke again before Jiraiya could deny him. "Want to see Naruto-chan?"

Jiraiya's face lit up. "You really named the brat that?"

He took that as enough agreement and was instantly next to Naruto-chan. His son was, yet again, with Mikoto's family. She was willing to watch them and little Itachi loved to play with Naruto and Sasuke.

Sometimes, Kakashi and this Shisui kid would also stop by and play with the kids.

It was adorable.

"Hey, Itachi-kun." Minato greeted, patting the kids head.

The kid bowed, all serious. "Hello, Hokage-sama. Naruto-chan and Sasuke-chan are safe."

Jiraiya snorted from next to Minato. "So serious, kid. We aren't gonna bite you."

Itachi nodded to Jiraiya. "Hello as well, Sannin-sama. I am simply doing my duties. Naruto-ototo and Sasuke-ototo are delicate."

It warmed Minato's heart. It was so, so cute.

He rubbed Itachi's head. "You're an excellent little ninja, Itachi-chan. I'm glad to have you in my service."

The Uchiha looked away, blushing. Absolutely adorable.

"Show us to the little tykes." Jiraiya-sensei ordered. Itachi gave a curt nod.

"Here he is, Sensei." Minato said, picking up Naruto from his cradle. His teacher poked the kid's cheek.

"He's so…tiny." Jiraiya mused, looking proudly at Minato's son.

Minato grinned at this teacher. "And he is your godson."

His teacher choked.

Minato appeared in an underground lab. He hadn't placed a mark here, either. He'd figured out a new Jutsu.

Teleportation with Obito's eye basically had him appear in the Kamui Dimension and then appear somewhere else in the world. By combining Kamui with the Flying Thunder God, he could just teleport himself instantly to any point Kamui could appear in.

Which was anywhere.

"Hey, Orochimaru."

The Sannin jumped, not noticing his presence.

Orochimaru's sword harmlessly passed through him.

"Any progress?" Minato asked, ignoring the strike from the Sannin.

The Snake also ignored the fact he had attacked the Hokage. "Some. Tsunade-chan's help was helpful in figuring out how to modify the DNA of the gametes." A grimace crossed the man's face. "It is still a struggle to figure out how to make the fetus brain dead without sacrificing the potential for the Sharingan to activate."

Minato hummed in consideration. "Why not just produce the eyes?"

Orochimaru gave him an unamused look. "Do you think I haven't attempted that? The eyes are unable to activate the Sharingan if the brain is not attached."

"Would an Uchiha with implanted eyes be able to activate the Sharingan in those eyes?"

Orochimaru looked intrigued. "You're suggesting the Sharingan is not made by the eyes but the brain."

Minato nodded. "It'd make sense."

The Sannin shook his head, getting back on track. "Regardless, that does not help with producing a soulless human."

"How about we try and make one without making a brain dead fetus?" He offered.

Orochimaru tilted his head. "And how would that be possible? The soul is attached directly to a functioning brain, that is the only way—" His eyes lit up. "Yes…maybe… yes. Preventing the production of yin chakra in the fetus should prevent the development of the soul."

"Seals?" Minato put up. "I know of several seals that seal off the chakra pathway. In a developing fetus, that should prevent yin chakra from reaching its body, preventing the development of a soul."

"Fufufu." Orochimaru sounded positively gleeful. "Minato-chan, oh how grateful I am you became Hokage over me."

"...thanks?"

It took months of experimentation to develop a set of eyes for Orochimaru. In that time, Minato had figured out how to seal healing chakra and how to seal the Sharingan.

Kakashi no longer needed to wear a mask, which was good.

Sealing healing chakra was also very, very good. He had plans to further develop it into a seal that would do targeted healing on shinobi.

In the meantime, though, it meant that civilians could play the role of Medical Nin. This allowed hospitals to allocate more healers to the field.

Very good.

Konoha also, totally randomly, had several new Uchiha orphans. And several orphans who might develop Ice Release, Boil Release, Magma Release, Dead Bone Pulse, and a litany of other bloodlines.

Or all of them at once.

Also, completely randomly, Minato had pushed for adoptions to be more common. Anyone who adopted would get tax returns.

Of course, the Military Police also now did random check-ins on families adopting.

Suspicious.

But, yes, Minato had used the opportunity to give Konoha many new bloodlines. If they could produce fetuses from the cells of anyone, it only made sense to do so.

Whilst they did it, they got ambitious. Konoha had several new Uzumaki—made from Mito's blood—who would have several bloodlines and genes from Hashirama.

Yes, the next generation looked bright. Naruto-chan would have fun competition.

Speaking of his kid, he was getting huge! Naruto is two years old now and loves to fight Sasuke. So cute.

Minato couldn't wait for Kushina to see their son.

Minato looked over a corpse, channeling chakra as he ran through seals. Finishing the last one, he said, "Life Awakening Full Restoration Revival Jutsu!"

His palm landed on the corpse, lines spreading across the corpse. It seized up, gasped, and then screamed. Dust burst out of its mouth as it died again.

Orochimaru hummed from beside him. "Remove the second Snake Sign from the sequence, I believe it's too overcharged with earth."

Minato couldn't help but agree. "Hare, then? Nature neutral with similar effects to Snake."

Orochimaru nodded in agreement.

Time to try again

Corpse after corpse, month after month, they tried to raise the dead.

He failed. Over and over he failed. Calling the soul was easy—restoring the body was harder. Much harder.

It wasn't just pumping healing chakra in and assuming it'd restore the body. No, it required repairing numerous cells, restoring functions, connecting nerves, and a million other things.

They got to the point where hand signs weren't enough. Written seals littered over this corpse, Minato's clone channeling chakra into the corpse's coils while another clone put sage chakra into it.

It needed chakra to live and sage chakra to connect it to nature. Half of the seals were making sure the sage chakra wouldn't flat out kill it.

He went through hand signs. Tiger-Snake-Boar-Moneky-Ram-Dog-Dragon-Rat-Jin.

Minato clapped and struck his palm onto the corpse. A loud gasp came from the man as he sat up, staring at Minato with wide eyes.

Minato stared back with equally wide eyes.

No coughing, no seizing, no shaking, no vibrating.

A strike knocked the man out as he quickly ran a diagnostic jutsu over the man's body.

He detected no issues. None, not one. He was alive.

"He's alive." He breathed out, staring in awe at the living man on the bed. He quickly grasped Orochimaru in a hug, giddy with excitement. "We did it! He's alive! We brought the dead back!"

Orochimaru quickly slunk out of his grip. "Kukukuku. The dead, alive…" He looked equally as amazed. "Never would I have thought it'd come this soon…this early…"

Kushina-chan…

She'd see Naruto soon.

Tiger-Snake-Boar-Moneky-Ram-Dog-Dragon-Rat-Jin.

Clap.

Palm Slam.

Just like that, his wife was back…

With modifications, of course. She wasn't dying again. He refused. He wouldn't have it.

It'd been months since the initial test. Naruto-chan was almost five now.

The wait, though, was worth it.

They had to make sure the first revivees wouldn't die in a couple weeks. They hadn't.

Then, Minato wanted to go in a different direction first. Instilling kekkai genkai on the corpses. It was, after all, theoretically possible.

The Pure World Revival, as Orochimaru called it, restored the body and put the soul back in. But, who was to say it couldn't restore the body into a slightly different state?

It could.

Heaps of Shadow Clones working day and night managed to do it. They had revived a Konoha Shinobi who died in the Nine Tails Attack.

This time, though, he had dead bone pulse.

From that point on, they slowly started reviving ninja after ninja, leaving them unconscious till they deemed them ready to return to the village.

Now, they revived his wife.

He gave her everything he could. Dead Bone Pulse, Ice Release, Magma Release, Boil Release, Crystal Release, Magnet Release, Scorch Release, Byakugan, Sharingan, and Wood Release.

That's right, they cracked Wood Style. The genes were annoying to isolate, but once they got Tsunade to help out, they managed.

Tsunade was surprisingly helpful. Actually, no. Not surprising.

She wanted Dan and Nawaki back just as much as he wanted Kushina-chan back.

Anyways, yeah. His wife wasn't dying on him again. Though, he was curious how the Byakugan and Sharingan genes would interact.

Oh well.

He used his eye to let her sleep. Better to wake up in a nice bed than in a lab.

He held Naruto in his arms as the boy squirmed.

"Put me down, dad! I can walk, ya know!" The little blond boy whined, trying to break free.

"Now now, Naruto. We're about to see your mother. Be good." He ruffled his hair.

"Mom?" Naruto said distantly. "Like—like my mom? But…I don't have a mom anymore. She died."

"Now, she un-died." Minato opened the door to his—their—room. He walked up to Kushina, lightly shaking her shoulder.

Her eyes fluttered open as she met his eyes. "M—Minato-chan?" She hesitantly said. "But…I died?"

A blond bundle launched into her arms, hugging her. Naruto clasped onto her, the boy always loving people.

Kushina's eyes widened. "You didn't."

Minato grinned, feeling like he was on the clouds. "I did."

She looked down to Naruto, tears leaking from her eyes. Tears poured from Minato's as well. "How long?"

"Almost five years."

She lifted Naruto up and hugged both Minato and their son. Sobs came from both of them. Sobs of joy. Sobs of sadness. Sobs of acceptance. '

Naruto squirmed around in their arms. That got a small giggle from Kushina.

"I've missed you so, so much. So much, Kushina."

A grin broke through her teary face. "Well, ya missed me enough to bring me back from the dead. Must've missed me a lot, ya know."

He laughed. And laughed.

He was so happy.

AN: If y'all want more, gimme like, ten comments. Just ten! From different people, don't cheat.

Anyhow, comment, don't comment, idc.