AN: Now THIS chapter I actually enjoyed writing. School's out soon, so maybe I can get into my fast pace again.

Chapter 3: Red Blood, Red Hair, Red Hot Temper

—

"Uzumaki Kushina," the Kyuubi's voice actually rang through Kushina's head, frightening her. It was impossible! Or supposed to be impossible, if she wasn't willing she couldn't be contacted by it!

"What do you want, fox?" Kushina hissed, concentrating on the seal to see her nemesis.

The Kyuubi was different from the last time she saw it. It was… brighter? Less hostile, the whole killing intent it spread around was lacking.

"Your husband has a tale to tell," it said, making Kushina wonder what he meant. She wasn't married yet, Minato wanted to avoid the wedding until the possible war was over, "let me begin like this, I don't believe keeping you away from him is the smart thing to do. My name is Kurama."

Kushina's eyes widened at the polite introduction.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" The red-haired woman asked.

"You felt your Chakra increase these last few weeks," Kurama said, the chains and pillars piercing him not allowing any movement, "that was because your son from 20 years in the future appeared in this time due to a seal the Yondaime created - and you died, sealing me in him."

Kushina shook her head, she couldn't trust the Kyuubi.

"You don't need to trust me, Uzumaki Kushina," Kurama said as if reading her mind, "but ask him who he met. As him about Uzumaki Naruto."

Kushina's eyes widened at the name, a strange feeling coming from Kurama. Not hostility. It had something… nostalgic.

Kurama didn't want that bastard controlling him again. He would trust the mother as much as he felt he could trust the son.

—

"Hatake Sakumo returned, his team failed and Iwagakure officially declared war," Hiruzen breathed out some smoke, putting his pipe away for the moment, "Kumogakure isn't actively offensive, but to get their spoils they send their ninja through our lands… what is more interesting is this."

He shoved forward a letter and a scroll. The letter was from Roran, specifically the queen who was aided by Minato's son, and the scroll was a treaty from Suna, signed by the Daimyo himself.

Minato's eyes widened, they didn't expect anyone helping them, this war would be harsh, as bad as the wars that came before, who knows what Hanzo might do?

Nothing now, because having Suna as ally would mean that Ame couldn't show any weakness or Iwa would try to attack too.

"But… why would Suna ally themselves with us?" he asked the older man, making Hiruzen grin.

"They lost their Jinchuuriki," Hiruzen pointed at the letter, specifically at the bolded kanji. It was a minimal coding, barely worth it but still effective considering it was a Suna courier that brought it.

"How?" Jiraiya sat on the couch to the left of the room.

"It seems that Naruto-san managed to unseal the Bijuu from the old man and sealed it inside him," Hiruzen said, the code wasn't very clear. "Suna lost their Bijuu. Naruto carries it now."

"I didn't know he knew about seals…" Minato muttered, smiling. That really was their son…

"MINATOOOO!" A voice echoed through the whole village, making the men shiver and dread what was to come. "COME HOME, NOW!"

He was out faster than even Hiraishin would have made it possible. A few seconds after he left it was Jiraiya that suddenly vanished, summoned by the toads.

"You still haven't finished the reports, have you?" Hiruzen asked the obviously tired Yamato, who barely looked up from the papers even as the news about Naruto came up.

"All is changed… now Suna is an ally, that means Tsunade won't be fighting them - which also means that Iwa won't get the upper hand now that the Kannabi bridge is in dire need of repair and we still hid a lot of exploding seals around… I doubt this war can even really start."

Of course that was just wishful thinking.

—

"Why did you summon me?" Jiraiya asked the moment he arrived, sitting in front of the old toads.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Fukasaku said, pointing at the scroll he lay in front of them, "is a Toad Sage. He is the Toad Sage."

Jiraiya looked wide-eyed at the name and raised his head slowly.

"You telling me he can…"

"When given time he can enter a Sage Mode even you can't equal," Fukasaku said, "and what I want to know is, is any of what he said really true?"

"You believe him, don't you?" Jiraiya said, "we have proof, information from an ANBU that came with him from that future."

"Good," Fukasaku nodded while Shima crossed her arms.

"I am still not happy, he hasn't proven anything to us yet!" she muttered, glaring at his name on the scroll.

"He has proven what he can do, and we know he can't be a bad person if Jiraiya let him sign this contract," Fukasaku said, making Jiraiya nod. Why shouldn't he let his student's son sign? Around the time Naruto would be old enough he was probably old enough to think about settling down.

"So, what do you think we should do about him?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nothing," Fukasaku said, "we have no reason to do anything. Right now he is only protecting that girl and he won't hesitate to fight Suna for it. It seems Suna tried assassinating her when she refused a marriage between her and the heir of the Sandaime Kazekage."

Jiraiya clenched his fists. The Sandaime Kazekage wasn't a nice man, even if he had the best interest of the village on his mind. Suna wasn't a kind place, especially not to the weak - people that failed in their recruitment would be thrown out without training and often died fighting groups of bandits.

"But the main problem is, while Suna might be unfamiliar with the Toad Sage mode, they are familiar with your summoning," Fukasaku said, "which means he can't summon us to help him, lest he shows his ties to Konoha."

"That means in case of multiple summoning attacking, or maybe even a Jinchuuriki he would be vulnerable or prone to show his abilities, making him a bigger target," Jiraiya scratched his head, "what can we do then?"

"I don't know, right now would be a horrible mistake to put you near them, the Sandaime won't allow it," Shima scoffed, "you will have to patrol the borders after all."

"I will talk with him," Jiraiya sighed, "goodbye."

Smoke and he was gone.

—

"Minato…" Kushina seemed a lot calmer now that he stood in front of her.

"Y-y-yes, dear?" he stuttered. Really, he's Namikaze Minato, he doesn't stutter!

"Who is Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked. And within five seconds multiple things happened.

First, Minato's eyes widened and he took a step back.

Second, seeing that as a confirmation that her husband was hiding something, Kushina took a step forward.

Before Minato could even try dodging, a chain was gathered around him stopping him from just using the Hiraishin and Kushina wrestled him down to the floor. Her Chakra… it felt more potent.

"So it's true," Kushian muttered, "our son, isn't he?"

Minato wanted to ask how she knew that, but he couldn't talk with her hand pushing his face onto the floor. Now that he had time he could use the Hiraishin, but that would make her even more angry.

"Kurama, that is… the Kyuubi told me, he was in him when he came back in time," Kushina answered, understanding him well enough, "we… we didn't survive that future. We didn't live with our son."

Minato heard from Yamato. He knew. And it hurt him as much as it did her, yet he dreaded what would come next.

"I want to meet him," Kushina said, her body shaking, "I want to… tell me where he is…"

"Kushina…" Minato got out as she let go of him and removed the chains, "you know we can't-"

"You know nothing!" she shouted into his face, trying to slap him. This time he blocked the hit and he stood up.

"Believe me I know," he said, hugging her, "I saw him. A splendid Shinobi, strong and courageous. But right now, there is war coming. We can't let Kumo or anyone else have the chance of taking you."

"Because of the Kyuubi," she whispered, "because I'm an Uzumaki who can beat down Bijuu. Kurama has been more honest that you lot!"

"I'm sorry," he said, looking at the floor over her shoulder.

"You really should be."

—

"The Daimyo ordered an abort on the operation to destroy and scavenge anything from Roran," the Sandaime Kazekage said in front of his most trusted ninja, "the reason is simple, due to our recent loss and the fact that the Daimyo saw fit to order us to ally ourselves with Konoha, we will be fighting Iwagakure in this war."

"But why?!" someone asked, "what got the Daimyo so scared? The Shukaku is completely useless if we didn't just release it in the middle of Konoha!"

"Even if we did that… with people like Jiraiya and the Sandaime, the beast would be sealed and thrown back at us with a looser seal," Sasori stood behind the Kage, "the Daimyo's plan is sound, in case of any weakness we can still switch sides, due to Iwa not knowing we want to ally ourselves with Konoha."

"But why should Konoha accept?" an Anbu asked.

"Because Sarutobi Hiruzen is a peace loving fool," the Sandaime said, "and because they don't know we lost the Shukaku."

After reading through the recommendation letter once, the Sandaime as strong as he is, didn't find any code in Roran's letter to Konoha. The reason for that incompetence was simple, unknown to many the Sandaime Kazekage was blind.

Experimenting with the Iron Sand he managed to blind himself but learned something very special, he could feel any amount of iron in people and feel the form of every person, recognizing them. To read he let the iron sand go through the slight dents a pen made - the disadvantage at that was that he couldn't see bolded letters.

It was a small mistake he never really realized - but now he would regret it. To err is human after all.

—

"Naruto," Sara said, grabbing his arm as he lost the balance trying to float with sand, "are you sure that this will work?"

"A hundred percent!" Naruto grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her up.

"Hey!" she shouted, not looking down when they started going higher.

"Don't worry," he said, still holding her hand, "even if we fall, I can just land softly."

"I know, but what if you don't mana-" she slipped down and he held her in bridal style as they met the floor, completely unharmed.

"Don't worry," Naruto repeated, "I won't let any harm come to you, remember?"

"Ass…" she muttered.

It's been three days since the official declaration of war from Iwagakure - two days since Konoha and Suna became official allies even if that fact was hidden from Iwa due to Jiraiya's excellent work.

What Konoha had to struggle with right now were internal affairs mainly - namely Orochimaru, the threat Danzo poses in the future and above all the Uchiha's.

"Hey Sara…" Naruto began awkwardly, still carrying her on their way to the queen's tower.

"Hm?" she looked up to him, seeing him blush.

"I…" he didn't really know what he should say, before the silence could go any longer they finally reached the throne room, "don't you want to walk on your own?"

"But you're warm," she whispered sleepily, nearly cutting off his air by holding on too tightly.

"We are in a desert," he sighed, she didn't listen. Walking up to the throne he just sat down, her not leaving his lap. Food would be served soon, the servants should wake them up.

Closing his eyes he dozed off too.

—

"A friend of mine once told me something after his teacher died," Naruto said, sitting in front of Sara and glaring at the Shogi board. He had no idea how to play it, she would beat him every time.

"Oh," she said, looking up to him.

"When his teacher was dying he held him, and his teacher whispered something with his dying breath," Naruto moved another piece. Loss in one turn, "he asked him to protect his 'King', at first he didn't really understand but in the end it was obvious - his king was his unborn child."

Sara slipped when she lifted a piece and crashed onto the Shogi table.

"Hah!? Sara, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, grabbing her shoulders and examining her for any wounds. "Are you poisoned? No, did something hit you?"

"No, no!" she pushed his hands away, "everything's alright, I guess I was just surprised."

"Why?" Naruto asked, picking up the pieces that were thrown around.

"You talking about children like that," she answered.

"Ah…" he scratched his cheek with a finger, looking embarrassed, "thing is… I was an orphan, and I didn't really have many friends - so I always wanted to have a family. If someone adopted me, or when I'm married myself…"

"I understand," she said, grabbing his hand as he put the pieces back on the table, "hey Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"I really don't like repeating myself," she all but growled, "I really like you. And we still didn't really talk about it over dinner."

"…" he was silent, looking at her with a blush. She was blushing too, he could see.

Throwing hesitation out of the window he leaned forward and kissed her.

—

Onoki was looking grim over the ruins of the border village he single handedly destroyed. After the Kannabi bridge was destroyed they needed another way to get supplies through to the village and even if he evacuated, this would have been a weak point due to the food produced here.

Iwa didn't have much fertile ground - it depended on the borders to Kusa. Quantity was what counted now, not quality though. The quality ninja were their enemies, the only one who he could see as equal was Hiruzen that old bastard.

Another problem was that their Jinchuuriki were young. Untrained. Relatively of course, both around twenty years old but still unable to fight that woman, Kushina…

The last time she was called due to border patrols spotting Roshi, she crushed him and sent him back with broken bones. If he declared war before that, she would have just ripped the Bijuu out of him.

Hopefully Suna and Kumo would realize the need of destroying Konoha. It was for the greater good of their villages - a plot to show the people that hired their ninja that they were not weak. But he was also afraid of what could happen in Ame… Hanzo has been awfully quiet lately.

—

Yahiko stood in front of his friends. The group became larger by every day, the didn't have a name yet but due to the threat of a coming war Hanzo was raising taxes, taking the food everyone so desperately needed.

"Comrades," Yahiko shouted, "this is our first meeting! We are the ones who know the pain of war, we saw it with our eyes! Our families shattered, our homes destroyed, our siblings starved!"

A large wave of agreements rang through them.

"Iwagakure has not yet dared to step into this place! We will not fight for Hanzo, we fight for our home," he said, spreading his arms wide, "currently it seems that Konoha doesn't plan assaults, which makes them a potential ally, we only wish to keep them away, not to go to war. We will be the aegis of the Rain!"

Another wave of agreements. Nagato and Konan smiled when he looked back to them.

"And we will survive, live through this war like we survived the others!" he became louder, "we will live long enough so we can see the dawn coming from the east!"

"Akatsuki!" All of them called.

"The Dawn is here!" he shouted and they raised weapons and fists towards the sky, "and it will make the clouds stop weeping!"

—

"Kusagakure is currently trying to lay siege on our borders," Jiraiya told his teacher, bringing out a map and drawing circles on it "they are here already, nothing we can't deal with. Due to destroying the Kannabi bridge, Iwa probably won't get any supplies fast enough and they will have delays for weeks."

"So if we beat Kusa back, and bring our assault through their borders," Hiruzen sighed, "that would mean we could launch a first strike and beat them back?"

"Yes, but a force like that would make us vulnerable to Kirigakure… it seems that they decided to join the war too while Kumo is awfully quiet."

"The Sandaime Raikage won't keep his nose out of this war," Hiruzen stood up and looked out of his window, "right now I hope this strategical advantage remains. Yamato finished all reports and if anything there is true then the moment we beat Kusagakure back we will lose a few squads due to a surprise attack of Iwa…"

"It isn't a surprise anymore though, is it?" Jiraiya grinned.

"I guess it isn't…" Hiruzen answered grimly.

Yamato was a genius. He learned all the reports - he could recall all of them from memory. And the names of the ninja he wrote, they would live.

He would make sure of that personally.

—

AN: Heyyyy, thanks for reading. Again, sorry for not updating for so long. You know, real life and all that.

If you like it, review. If you have a question, PM me.

Also, Kushina: Soon.