"Shiki Fuin!"
Clapping his hands together, Namikaze Minato prepared for his last act in life, the sealing of the Kyuubi no Yoko.
Roaring in rage, the Kyuubi thrashed its nine long tails futilely against the golden chains binding it to the ground, shaking the small forest clearing. The fox's fur was a bright fiery orange and its size dwarfed mountains. The sheer ferocity and anger pouring off the beast made Minato tremble inside.
Minato made eye contact with his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, who was watching him in horror as she did her best to contain the great fox.
"Let's believe in this child! He is our son after all!"
The ghastly white apparition of the Shinigami began forming behind him. "I will die for my son… It is my duty as his father."
Gazing into Minato's eyes, Kushina was left speechless by his resolve.
The Shinigami plunged its right hand through Minato, and its hand became transparent as it protruded from Minato's chest. Minato directed the death god's hand, shooting it out and grasping onto the Kyuubi's chest. The hand retracted, dragging the Kyuubi's Yin half, along with a mass of chakra. Minato gasped as the chakra slammed into his body, burning all of his chakra coils. Grunting in pain, he fell to his knees as he dealt with the strain of having an enormous mass of chakra shoved inside him.
Behind him, still held down by Kushina's golden chakra chains, the great Kyuubi no Yoko snarled in pain at the feeling of his very essence being torn in half. The great fox shrunk to less than half his original size.
Looking up again, the Kyuubi saw a rather foreboding sight.
"A ritual altar? He's planning to seal me up again? Inside that infant?"
The Kyuubi watched in trepidation as Minato lowered his son into a hastily prepared cradle surrounded by candles.
Suddenly, Kushina gasped, collapsing to the ground and hacking up blood. Her golden chains loosened. The strain of having given birth combined with the side effects of having the Kyuubi ripped from her system finally showed itself.
"Kushina?" Minato yelled, turning away from his preparations.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Kyuubi lashed out in defiance, aiming for the infant.
"NO!" Shouted Minato and Kushina as they desperately threw themselves in front of the lethal blow.
Enduring the sudden agony of the claw piercing through their chests, they grabbed on, feet skidding against the ground slowing the momentum of the blow. They narrowly prevented the tip of the claw from touching their newborn son.
Impaled upon the Kyuubi's claw, Minato coughed out blood and spoke.
"I said I was his father… Dying for him is my right."
"...I'm his mother. It's my right too!" Shot back Kushina. "This is the first time… I've lost an argument against you… It proves how serious you are…"
"...Thanks, Kushina."
Minato summoned the scroll toad, Gerotora, and transferred the key for the Shiki Fuin seal to him and dismissed the summon.
"Kushina… I'm not going to last much longer... I'm launching the eight-pronged seal now… So, I can put some of our chakra inside Naruto! Let's tell him what we want to say to him…"
Kushina did her best to condense all her feelings into a few short sentences as she cried over lost opportunities...
"Naruto, from now on, you are going to face lots of pain and hardships. Be true to yourself. Have a dream and have the confidence to make those dreams come true, Oh, Naruto, there's so much… oh, so much more…! There are so many things I wish I had time to pass on to you… so much more,…"
While Kushina rambled, Minato watched in horror as the blood that dripped off the Kyuubi's claw smudged a small but vital part of the slowly forming seal on his son's stomach.
'Damn! The soul matrices! I can't fix this in my condition! There's no telling what will happen now!' Thought Minato.
… "I wish I could stay with you longer! I love you, more than anything in the world! I'm sorry Minato, I used up your time"
"Naruto… My words to you as your father… Are same as your chatty mother, I guess… I'm sorry for what may happen next..."
'This is it, then. I can only pray that nothing too bad will happen to Naruto… I'm sorry, my son… I believe in you...'
A harsh cry of denial came from the Kyuubi, who felt his newly gained freedom slipping away. In a flash of light the sealing was completed, the kyuubi dissolving into pure chakra and drawn into the seal on Naruto's navel.
The only thing holding up Minato and Kushina had been the claw that impaled them. They collapsed along with the barrier surrounding the sealing site.
"Minato!" Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, came running up to his fallen body. "What have you done!" Falling to his knees, the Sandaime began a healing jutsu, though he knew it was a lost cause.
"Sarutobi-sama... -cough- Please… This is my son Naruto…Uzumaki... I have sealed half of the Kyuubi's chakra into him... -cough- Please have him treated as the hero he deserves to be… Please, take care of him..."
"Minato… Don't worry. I'll take full responsibility of him for you…" said the Sandaime solemnly, ending his healing efforts.
With those last words, Minato nodded weakly at the Sandaime and sighed. His last thoughts lingering in his mind, Minato closed his eyes for the last time, a feeling of falling slowly into the darkness overtaking his body…
Only to have his eyes immediately snap open again.
Suddenly, everything was too bright, too loud, too blurry, too vibrant. Simply too much. Colors were swirling hazily in front of his eyes, and Minato felt all too weak. There were shouts coming from all around him, but it seemed as if he was hearing everything from underwater.
'Would the afterlife really be this chaotic? What is this? Is this...? Could it be...? Am I still alive? What's happening?' he wondered.
"Quickly! The Yondaime is over here!"
"Kushina-sama! Yondaime-sama!"
"Seal the bodies!"
"How did the Kyuubi escape?"
"Sandaime-sama! What happened to the Kyuubi?"
'I'm still alive…?'
The surroundings were a flurry of frantic movements as Minato did his best to gauge what was happening. The Sandaime Hokage was shouting orders and directing various teams of shinobi while the ninja hurried to fulfill those orders.
Meanwhile Minato was still having troubles with his sight and hearing. He performed standard assessment procedures, checking every limb and sense and evaluating his body for injuries…
What he found was worrying on several levels. He couldn't see properly, only vague shapes and bright lights. His hearing and sense of smell were somehow significantly improved but now everything was simply too overwhelming for him to process. There also seemed to be a strange unidentified heat that was emanating from his abdomen. When he tried moving his limbs, he discovered that they would not respond. His fingers were lacking in fine motor control and seemed to be stuck in fists. He couldn't gather any strength to sit up either. Looking down at his body with bleary eyes brought a disturbing revelation. His limbs were tiny! He was naked! He had somehow shrunk and become extremely weak!
He watched as a dark shape loomed over him in panic. Just as the shape picked him up, he started to hyperventilate uncontrollably.
"Oh… Oh… Naruto my boy I'm so sorry…" Cooed the Sandaime.
'WAIT, WHAT? NARUTO?'
'No. No. Nononono. This couldn't be happening.'
He began crying uncontrollably, body refusing any attempts to breathe properly and calm down.
'Am I in Naruto's body?! How is this possible? The Shinigami should have taken my soul! Did I somehow get swapped with Naruto?! Was sealing a chakra imprint the wrong choice? No no no. That can't be it, the soul matrix only dealt with the separation of the Kyuubi's soul and Naruto's! Did the blood swap targets? But then what happened to Kushina? This is a mess! Who knows when the masked man will be back as well? This shouldn't have happened! How can I fix this?'
While Minato was panicking, the Sandaime had stood and was slowly walking away from the tragic scene to help coordinate efforts to begin recovery. Many disaster relief scenarios were running through his mind as he absently rocked the baby in his arms.
"Call a council. We must begin recovery efforts and deal with the backlash of this event. We have lost many fine Shinobi tonight, and we cannot afford to look weak to the other hidden villages," the Sandaime said to a nearby Anbu.
"Hai!"
Clan heads and council members slowly filed into the large council room.
Still held in the Sandaime's arms, Minato was relieved. From what he could barely make out with his young eyes, many council members were still alive and not critically injured by the Kyuubi attack. He had shelved his panic and theories to deal with them at a later time. His body was tiring quickly. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he had a council meeting to endure.
He could see that the fierce Inuzuka clan head Tsume had her arm in a sling and looked very ragged while Inoichi the head of the Yamanaka clan leaned on Choza, the head of the Akimichis and Shikaku, head of the Naras trailed in tiredly behind them. The head of the Aburames, Aburame Shibi, had limped into the room supported by Hiashi of the Hyuuga clan while Fugaku, who was head of the Uchiha clan, looking perfectly fine, led a group of distressed civilian council members in.
Koharu, Homura, and Danzo, the Sandaime's advisors, took up positions next to the Sandaime. The council began as the rest of the civilian members were slowly settled in.
The Sandaime stood and addressed his council. "Today we have suffered massive losses, including the death of our Yondaime. The reason for the release of the Kyuubi is unknown as of now. Investigations are still underway to determine how exactly the Kyuubi was freed, but for now we must focus on recovery. I will be taking up my previous position as Hokage again during this time."
Murmurs of assent went around the room as Danzo started with a frown but stayed silent.
The Sandaime covered his face, "Now then. The sad numbers please, Shikaku."
Shikaku stood and delivered his report, "Yes sir. We have a tentative total death toll of roughly 2,000 shinobi and 1,300 civilian tonight. Injuries are still being tallied and expected to be over 5,000."
The Sandaime sighed, "I see… We were lucky that the Kyuubi was summoned on the outskirts of the village…"
"Sandaime-sama, what do you mean by summoned?"
The Sandaime sighed again. Sitting back down, he suddenly seemed to have aged by fifty years as he looked down.
"The Anbu team guarding our previous jinchuuriki was found murdered by an unknown intruder who then kidnapped and extracted the Kyuubi. As I said before, investigations are underway to determine how the locations of our previous Jinchuuriki were leaked and who the individual was."
Danzo hummed and put his hand to his chin.
"Sarutobi, many witnesses remarked upon seeing the sharingan in the Kyuubi's eyes tonight…"
Fugaku stood sharply, "Danzo, are you implying something?"
"How many Uchiha are in the casualties? It seems that the Uchiha compound has avoided most of the damages as well…"
"We are loyal leaf shinobi! The Uchiha police force was tasked with ensuring the civilians were safe! That is why the civilian count is much lower than it would have been!"
"Silence!" shouted the Sandaime, slamming his hand down on the table. "We will discuss this at a different time. There are many more pressing matters to be discussed. We cannot afford to be divided in our dire straits. Other villages will want to take advantage of our weakened state!"
Fugaku and Danzo both acquiesced as Fugaku sat down, glaring sharply at Danzo. Danzo merely sighed, an ugly gleam entering his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.
After discussing losses, possible solutions, and delegating various responsibilities for a few hours, someone finally addressed the elephant in the room, or rather, child in the room.
"Sandaime-sama, what is that baby doing here?"
"The Yondaime sacrificed his life using the Shiki Fuin to seal the Kyuubi in to this child. His name is Naruto Uzumaki."
Immediately there was an uproar in the council, waking the dozing baby. Many of the civilian heads called for the death of the demon vessel while the clan heads absorbed the information in shock.
"Silence!" shouted the Sandaime along with a burst of his killing intent. "This child is a hero for containing the demon. I will not have a mere baby put to death for what he contains. In fact, even if we did kill this baby, the Kyuubi would simply reform out of our control."
"Sarutobi, give the Jinchuuriki to me. I will train it to the best of my abilities. Konoha will need the strength in the coming days," said Danzo.
Sarutobi glared harshly at Danzo. "No! He will not be treated as an emotionless weapon. Minato wanted this child to be treated as a hero. He will have a normal childhood."
"Hiruzen, you are too soft! If he were to have a normal childhood, we would not have the power to face the other villages!"
"My decision is final! He will join the academy when he is ready!"
Danzo huffed and clenched his fists under the table. The various council members sat in silence for a while as the Sandaime's decree settled over them. Minato secretly sighed in relief. There was gratitude for the kindly old man at being spared the fate of emotionless tool.
"Then… Sandaime-sama… Who will raise the Jinchuuriki?" Asked Hiashi.
Tsume stood bravely. "Sandaime-sama, I will take in the pup."
Minato felt a rush of affection for the brash clan head, grateful that one of Kushina's close friends had connected the dots and was willing to stick their neck out for his son.
"We cannot simply give the jinchuuriki to the Inuzukas!" yelled Fugaku.
"And what is that supposed to mean, huh?" Tsume quickly retorted.
"Troublesome. The Naras could take him in." huffed Shikaku.
"Hmm…. The Yamanakas could as well…" said Inoichi.
"Akimichi could work too." Choza stated.
Aburame Shibi pushed his glasses up. "I believe that my clan can take in the Jinchuuriki. Why? Because we Aburame are distanced from a majority of village politics."
"The Hyuuga would be honored to train the Jinchuuriki."
"Uchiha should take the Jinchuuriki."
Minato felt heartened at all of his friends' support, and he held the tiniest bit of hope that all could go well, until a cold voice brought it all crashing down.
Homura slapped his hand on the table. "No. None of the clans should take the Jinchuuriki. It would upset the balance between the clans."
Koharu nodded. "Indeed. There is no straightforward answer to this."
"...I could take the Jinchuuriki, if you would just-" Danzo tried once more.
"Enough." The Sandaime stood again "He will go to the orphanage, and his status as Jinchuuriki shall be deemed an S-rank secret until he is Chuunin."
Danzo's frown deepened 'Hiruzen. You have truly grown too soft. No matter. I will fix this. The great tree can only truly flourish because of its shadowed roots.'
The meeting was quickly adjourned and as the members stood to leave, a truly heart-breaking sound rang out.
Thankfully, as a baby it was not out of the norm when Minato couldn't control himself and started wailing.
He wanted to rage, sob, and shout. He wanted to throttle the Sandaime and his advisors. The orphan life wasn't a life he wished on anyone! Especially his son! He didn't know it was possible to reach the levels of anger and despair he was currently experiencing.
The Sandaime left the council room at a slow plod, sighing as he went. There was much work to be done, and young Naruto wouldn't stop crying.
Back at his quiet office, there was an unexpected visitor waiting for him.
"Jiraiya! Where have you been!?" The Sandaime shouted in anger.
Waving his hands in front of him frantically, Jiraiya replied, "Calm down, Sensei! I just arrived ten minutes ago… I missed the attack. Where's the Gaki?"
The Sandaime sighed, "Minato is dead, Jiraiya… He used the Shiki Fuin to seal the Kyuubi into this child."
Jiraiya choked back tears as he looked down in grief. Looking at the child in the Sandaime's arms he came to a somber conclusion. "Sensei, is that his own son?"
"Yes. Just as he died, he told me he wanted his son to be seen as a hero and that his name was Naruto Uzumaki."
"I see. What will happen to him now?"
"He will go to the orphanage and his status as Jinchuuriki will remain an S-rank secret until he has attained the rank of Chuunin. Unless, of course, you would like to take him in as his godfather?"
"Why would he go to the orphanage? What about Kushina?"
"The Kyuubi was released, what do you think happened to Kushina?"
"…. Ah ...I can't take him Sensei. I have my spy network to run. Tsunade could look after the brat."
"Hmm… You're right. You shouldn't take him anyways because it would be too obvious to Iwa that the Yellow Flash had a son if you were to take in a blonde-haired baby…"
The sheer disappointment Minato held for his former teacher could not be described. He had fondly remembered the moment he and Kushina had named Jiraiya the godfather.
"Naruto, eh?" Jiraiya said, setting down his teacup.
"That's right, Sensei! It's a great name, after all! I was very inspired by your new book and I hope that the name and ideals behind it will serve my son well in the future." Minato replied, picking up the ea kettle and topping off Jiraiya's cup.
"That's right Dattebane!" Chirped Kushina who has just walked into the room.
"Ah well, it was just something I came up with while eating ramen, hahaha!" Jiraiya laughed, slapping the table.
Kushina leaned over Minato and pecked him on the cheek. "We would like to name you as godfather if anything were to happen to us, Jiraiya. We trust you a lot, Dattebane!" She threw her arms around Minato she stared at Jiraiya with a pair of hopeful, watery eyes.
"Hahaha! Well then! I would be honoured!"
Lost in thought, Minato nearly missed Jiraiya's next response.
"Yeah. Uh, that too… Anyway, I originally came here to bring news of a new criminal organization."
"And what is so significant about this new organization?"
"It's a group called the Akatsuki. Rumor has it that it's a group filled with S-rank missing nin and that they're searching for the tailed beasts."
'Searching for the tailed beasts? Perhaps the masked man was a part of this Akatsuki? 'Minato thought.
"I see… Then the information about Naruto must be guarded with utmost importance…"
"Yeah. Sensei, in the meantime, I'll be looking for more information on this group."
"Of course, Jiraiya. We must keep Konoha safe, it's what Minato wanted after all…"
"Yeah…"
Both men shared a moment of silence for the fallen Kage. Wrapping up the short encounter, they left to fulfill their duties. The Sandaime headed off to the local orphanage to drop off Naruto, and Jiraiya went off to the next town's hot springs, leaving Minato to contemplate and mourn his new situation.
Betrayal was a bitter friend.
This was his son! His last request was to take care of his son! This was not what was supposed to happen! What happened to taking full responsibility?!
Sarutobi and Jiraya had just spat over everything he had given his life for.
Minato knew better than most of the fate that awaited at an orphanage. He had been an orphan himself. Growing up as an orphan in a Shinobi village was a painful and grueling experience. He hadn't been a child that stood out among the masses aside from his bright hair. He had slaved over and cherished every last drop of acknowledgement and attention that he could get. As an orphan, he had no significant bonds. Who would even give the time of day to one specific orphan out of the many others?
By protecting the village to the best of his abilities, he had something to live for. He had no one and wanted someone, so he devoted himself to the will of fire. He worked to become the perfect shinobi and he stained his hands with blood in the name of Konoha.
Minato's life starting out was extremely difficult. With no clan or significant backing behind him, he had to find ways to increase his strength outside of regular academy lessons. It was a basic fact of the world that clan children had numerous advantages over civilian children. Even more so over orphan civilian children.
Minato had raided the Shinobi library for any drop of useful information and then dug through the discarded scrolls of various Konoha clans in trash heaps. He scavenged the numerous training grounds for any kind of tools, including discarded kunai, ninja wire, and shuriken. He spied on Jounin drilling their Genin teams and other training ninja despite the disdain.
He trained himself into the ground, and then took a shovel and dug just a bit deeper.
Originally, he'd bulldozed through the solitude of being an orphan with a false cheer and exuberance. He had built himself up from nothing and the thought of having to do it all over again… Well, Minato wasn't happy, to say the least.
It was crushing to have his efforts ripped away from him and the realization that the same suffocating loneliness of the orphanage was his son's fate was damning. The council meeting was the most despairing thing he had ever experienced, and that's saying a lot for someone who had survived the third Shinobi war.
All along, his life had been the definition of loneliness. Sure, he had friends, but there was no one who truly understood. Kids at the orphanage couldn't understand his drive to become an excellent Shinobi and gain recognition. The teens at the academy couldn't hide their envy when he was picked for a Sannin's Genin team. Regular Jounins were intimidated by his reputation. As Hokage, it ensured that all Shinobi held him at arms distance out of respect and deference.
His only true respite from the cold suffocating solitude was someone who could understand him in equal measure. Someone who had lost everything. Someone with a similar void.
Uzumaki Kushina.
Rocketing through the ranks had filled the cold void somewhat, but it wasn't until he manned up and asked out a certain red headed terror that he truly felt fulfilled.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about his now lost love of life.
The brash redheaded girl that he first saw declaring herself as the next Hokage after what must have been a traumatic loss, struck a chord deep within him.
Uzushio's fall appeared to do nothing to dull the fire that hid her pain. It was simply enrapturing to Minato the way she held herself with confidence and bravado. In her was a similar desperation for companionship and respect. His fall and eventual whirlwind romance that followed was simply inevitable. Like a moth he was drawn in, burned, and consumed.
Minato regularly gave everything for others and never had someone who would do the same for him until Kushina. When he finally obtained the name of Kage, he sacrificed it all in the name of an ideal he could finally believe in. The king of Konoha was the future generation, and he understood that now.
And he had wanted. He wanted a family so badly. He wanted the warmth and comfort. He wanted the closeness and love. When it was closest to it was cruelly ripped away. And now? Now he would have nothing.