Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long, but testing is finally over! I've been working on this chapter bit by bit throughout the last couple weeks, so it's a little longer than my last two chapters. I hope you guys enjoy!

Also! To everyone who enjoys the story, favorites or follows it, or just has something to say, please review guys! It's really helpful and allows me to know if I'm doing something wrong and what I'm doing correctly. Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own any OCs I introduce into the series.

6:40 AM – Hokage's office, Konohagakure

'For the love of Kami, can I have one normal, peaceful night?' Sarutobi Hiruzen was leaning back in his chair, puffing on his pipe, while a boy that should have been dead was standing in the middle of his office and fidgeting restlessly as one of his Anbu checked the boy over.

After a couple of tense minutes, the Anbu stepped back, looked at the Hokage, and shook her head.

"Hokage-sama, he is who he says he is. There is no sign of a henge, or any other type of jutsu." The Anbu turned to the Hokage and nodded. She then continued her inspection of the boy, presumably looking for any hidden weapons. It was still possible that the boy had been taken by an enemy of Konoha. She didn't want a surprise explosive tag to end everyone's lives. That would be unfortunate.

Fox and Minato were both still pretty shocked, and while they both wanted to embrace Obito, they waited until after the Anbu had finished her inspection of the boy. It was true that someone might have saved Obito in order to use him as a weapon. Minato had heard the report from Kakashi and read the report from the team that inspected the battlefield afterwards. The squad sent out never found Obito's body, but there was signs of blood under a boulder, just as Kakashi had told him. Minato thought that some other group could have taken his body, but he still wasn't sure how he had survived. After all, he had been crushed under a freaking boulder.

In fact, that was the only reason the Uchiha hadn't thrown a temper tantrum. Obito had given one sharingan to Kakashi, but he still had his other. If Minato hadn't been able to convince Fugaku that Obito had been crushed, he was afraid Fugaku would go out himself to find whoever took the body. Minato sighed, still confused by the whole thing. Don't get him wrong, he loved the fact that Obito was back. He had always liked the fact that he never gave up and was pretty cheerful. But it still complicated things. Minato didn't like it when things didn't add up. And his student returning from the dead certainly didn't add up.

Fox, better known as the legendary Kunoichi, Uzumake Kushina, was also holding herself back from running to Obito. He had always been her favorite member of Minato's team. She had been devastated when she heard he had sacrificed himself to save Kakashi. After Kakashi had somewhat recovered from his friend's death, she was ready to tear him apart, but she had been able to calm herself down and have a decent conversation with him. She was impressed by Kakashi, but she never liked him. He was an insufferable prick. Now that he was a jonin, she didn't have to go easy on him. He had always treated Obito like shit, so she was surprised Obito had given him his sharingan. And she wanted to make sure he understood the power he had been granted.

4 Months Earlier – Konohagakure

Kakashi was walking down the street, hands in his pockets, inspecting the ground. He had pulled inward after Obito's death. He had never been a very social person, but losing yet another person in his life had made him nearly completely shut down. The only people he would talk to were Minato-sensei and Rin, neither of whom got much more than a few words out of him. He had only started leaving his apartment again a couple of weeks ago, mostly due to the fact that he had nothing left to eat and his stomach was grumbling so loudly he was afraid he'd wake up his neighbors.

Kakashi frequently imagined hearing or seeing Obito. He knew it had something to do with the fact that, even though he had always been terrible to Obito, he still thought of Obito as a comrade. No, more than a comrade. A friend. Kakashi didn't have many of those. His attitude had pushed many people away. And while he and Obito were rivals and didn't always get along, they were still friends.

So if he thought he heard or saw something unusual, he would shrug it off. But this time was different. This hallucination was following him for a much longer distance than anything else he had imagined. Most of the time, a shake of his head and the silent treatment would make the images go away. But this one was clearly following him. Kakashi made a number of quick turns down some side streets, and before he knew it, he was in one of the old districts of Konoha.

The houses were much larger than those in other parts of the village. They were also set far back from the road, and most had some kind of wall or foliage blocking the view of it. Privacy was valuable, and expensive. Kakashi didn't know how he got here, but if it wasn't for the person following him, he would have turned around. One of these houses belonged to his own family. 'Well, I guess now it belongs to me.' Kakashi sighed again. His mother had died and his father had committed suicide, both when he was young. He hadn't known his mother well, but his father's death had taken a toll on him. He was the one who had found his father dead. Kakashi tried to push away the mental images and focus again on why he was here.

'Ah yes, the weird person following me.' Kakashi nonchalantly looked around, eye peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He was getting close to a rather large compound on the left, when it happened. It was barely there, just a whisper in the wind. Kakashi barely had time to open his eye wide in surprise before he was knocked out by a woman with red hair in an anbu mask. The woman looked around, then scooped up the boy's body and disappeared into the compound.

It took a few minutes before Kakashi woke up and was able to get a sense of his surroundings. He was in a house, on a mat on the floor. Most of the house was very well furnished, with very expensive furniture and decorations around. Kakashi was impressed. His family had a clan house, and while he didn't use it due to the bad memories, it had been large by almost any standards. But this place was huge. He looked out the window to his side and saw multiple other houses. If he had been a little more lucid, he would probably have spent some time exploring. But he still had no idea how he had even gotten here, and who had done this to him. He reached for his weapons, but they weren't there. 'This isn't good.' Just then, he felt another presence enter the room, and whipped around.

The woman standing in the doorway was probably in her early twenties. She had red hair, cut short, in a bob cut. She was tall, a few inches taller than Kakashi, and was wearing a traditional kimono. She was carrying a tray, but Kakashi was more focused on her dark blue eyes. He didn't realize eyes could be that color. The woman, seeing his gaze, met his eyes, and a few moments later Kakashi looked away. The woman had to stifle a chuckle. 'Boys are always the same,' she thought, as she walked towards the kid sitting on the floor.

"Hi, how are you?" The woman asked cheerfully as she placed the tray down next to Kakashi. Kakashi was still out of it, so it took him a few moments to compose himself.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Kakashi watched the woman closely. She didn't seem hostile, but he could never be sure. Especially since someone had kidnapped him.

"I'm well, thank you for asking." The woman smiled again, causing Kakashi to blush slightly. This time, she did chuckle aloud.

"You should eat and drink." She gestured towards the tray she had left next to Kakashi. He eyed it suspiciously before turning to the woman again.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" Kakashi narrowed his eye. His hitai-ite was still covering his sharingan, and his mask covered most of his face, but he was still able to express most emotions through his eyes.

The woman laughed.

"So many questions. But I guess those are deserved. My name is Uzumaki Aya. You are in the Uzumaki compound in Konoha. As to why you are here…" Aya glanced around before turning back towards Kakashi, "well, one of my friends wanted to talk to you." Kakashi, still confused, tried to piece together the information he had.

"So you're the one who kidnapped me?" Aya looked confused for a moment before laughing. Kakashi was bewildered at this point. 'What the hell is going on?'

Once Aya stopped laughing, she responded, "Of course I didn't kidnap you. I don't want to talk you. My friend wants to talk to you." She smiled again, only making Kakashi blush more, and shift uncomfortably under her gaze, which only made her start laughing again. Aya was getting a kick out of his reactions.

But Kakashi still didn't know who wanted to see him.

"Who is your friend?" Kakashi needed to get out of here. He didn't like the fact that his weapons were all gone, and his head still throbbed from whatever was used to knock him out.

Aya frowned momentarily and looked over her shoulder.

"Give me one second."

Aya walked back towards the hallway she had come from as Kakashi watcher go and then disappear around one of the corners. He turned back towards the food and tea that Aya had set down. After a few suspicious sniffs, Kakashi decided they weren't poisonous and started to eat and drink.

It was a few minutes before Aya returned. Kakashi had finished the food and tea, not realizing how hungry he was. But now he turned to Aya and awaited her response.

"My friend will see you know." Kakashi's eye narrowed suspiciously again. He did not have a good feeling about this. But he followed Aya anyways.

After a couple of turns, Aya stopped outside of a nondescript door. She knocked a couple of times.

"You may enter," a voice responded. Aya nodded and turned to Kakashi.

"Good luck," she smiled and rustled his hair, only earning her another evil eye from Kakashi as he fixed his perfectly maintained silver hair.

Once he had fixed himself, he opened the door, and his visible eye widened.

"Kushina-sama!" Uzumaki Kushina, Minato-sensei's wife, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, in a meditation pose. A small smirk was present on her lips, as she met Kakashi's eyes. Unfortunately for Kakashi, there was no motherly love or compassion there.

"Sit." The firmness of the command caused Kakashi to flinch slightly. 'What did I do?' He ran through scenarios in his head, but he still didn't understand. So he just followed the directions, and sat a few feet in front of Kushina. Kushina glared at him, and Kakashi could only gulp, as he stared down the deadliest Anbu in the village.

"Do you know why you're here?" Kakashi's head started throbbing again and he had to focus hard to even be able to think clearly. He had just been walking when suddenly he had been blinded by pain and then everything went black.

"Did someone knock me out?" Kakashi asked. The smirk on Kushina's face grew slightly, but she was able to control herself.

"Yes." That was the red-heads only response. Kakashi sighed. He wasn't getting the information he needed, but hopefully he could learn more about what happened.

"Did you save me?" Kakashi asked curiously, rubbing the lump on the back of his head.

That was the last straw.

"I WAS THE ONE WHO KNOCKED YOU OUT YOU BAKA!" Kushina yelled at Kakashi. She also unintentionally flared her killing intent, which made Kakashi look like he was about to shit his pants. It didn't matter if Kakashi had known her for a few years, or that she was the wife of his sensei. She was known as the Red Hot-blooded Habanero for a reason, and the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, so her killing intent was fearsome.

Kakashi had gone pale, and Kushina had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing.

"I needed to talk to you, but you have been quite evasive recently." She eyed Kakashi for a reaction. He seemed to find the floor very interesting at the moment. But Kushina would not be deterred.

"I know you've been suffering since Obito's de…"

"AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT!" Kakashi had jumped up, tears in his visible eye, as he shouted at Kushina.

To Kushina's credit, she didn't react, except to give Kakashi a look of pity.

"He was my teammate! No, my friend! He believed in me! And he gave his own life to save mine! How could you understand that?" Kakashi was on the verge of crying and was shaking. Kushina sat there for a few moments.

"You're not the only one in this village who has lost comrades. Or friends." Kakashi had stopped and was looking at Kushina. The words had a very somber and regretful undertone that was easily discernible. Kushina then looked up and met Kakashi's eyes, fixing him with a firm stare.

"And he won't be the last person you lose. Hopefully this war will be over before you lose anyone else, but no one can guarantee that. And you must be prepared for that." Kushina understood Kakashi's pain. This war had gone on too long. She sighed and continued.

"But he's not totally gone, is he?"

Kakashi was startled at her question, but responded, if only in nothing more than a whisper.

"No, I guess he's not." Kakashi slowly lifted his headband to accentuate his point, as he revealed the sharingan Obito had given him. Kushina had a small smile on her face as she continued.

"You're right, he's not. But what would he want you to do with his eye? Let it go to waste by wallowing in your despair and depression? Or going out and doing your best to protect your comrades and friends and helping end this war as quickly as possible?"

Kushina had been able to pierce the heart of the issue, and Kakashi was not ready for someone to call him out on his actions. He slowly sat back down and contemplated Kushina's words for a minute before responding.

"Obito…would want me…to protect Rin and…everybody else." He struggled to get the words out, but once he did, a weight he didn't realize he was carrying, seemed to lift off of his shoulders.

Now Kushina did smile.

"And that gift he gave you is special, you know that right?" Kakashi wasn't looking directly at Kushina, but he still nodded. Kushina smiled. Maybe he wasn't such a baka after all.

"Good. Now go out there and make Obito proud." Kushina could have sworn Kakashi stiffened momentarily at that, but it was too quick for her to know for sure. Anyways, Kakashi slowly got up and made his way to the door, stopping before he opened the door.

"Kushina-sama."

Kushina looked somewhat caught off guard by his voice. "uh…yes?"

"…Thank you."

Kakashi opened the door before waiting for a response. But Kushina didn't care. She was relieved, and happy. 'At least I got through to him. That's at least a step forward.' She sighed. There was still plenty of work to do. But it seemed Kakashi did understand the sacrifice Obito had made for him.

6:45 AM – Hokage's office, Konohagakure

Obito was still standing there, looking quite out of breath. He had just sprinted across the Land of Fire for hours in order to get here as soon as possible. He didn't want to leave Rin again, but he was confident Kakashi could protect her. He was more concerned about finding someone who could help save her. Rin was not doing well when he left. He just hoped she wasn't doing any worse. He shuddered just thinking about it.

The Anbu was finishing up her inspection of the boy. She had heard his name before. Uchiha Obito. She vaguely remembered hearing about the boy before. She thought that he had been killed. Crushed under a boulder was the cause of death. She wasn't sure how this kid was alive, but he clearly had signs of damage. Hell, one of his arms was missing, and the right side of his face looked somewhat messed up. But what intrigued her was the fact that the stump where his right arm was felt weird. When she looked closer, she realized it looked nothing like a human arm. It was white, and felt somewhat clay-ey. 'If that's even a weird.' The Anbu snorted and turned around.

"No weapons found Hokage-sama. He is completely clean."

The anbu barely had time to get out of the way before Fox barreled into Obito and smothered him in a hug.

"Oh thank Kami you're okay! We thought you were dead!" The other occupants in the room shuffled, slightly uncomfortable at Kushina's antics. Though Minato was watching carefully, since he was pretty sure she was going to break a few of Obito's ribs if she squeezed any tighter.

Obito, while shocked at the woman's reaction, had more pressing matters.

"Anbu-sama…I…can't breathe." He wheezed out. Immediately, Fox let Obito go and held him at arm's length, which only made Obito feel weirder and more self-conscious. 'You know, I kinda miss when no one paid attention to me. This is ridiculous.'

Beneath her mask, Kushina was battling with her emotions. Part of her was still happy he was alive and here. But another part of her was shocked, no, angry, at the clear damage to his body. The right side of his face had been reconstructed, but it still looked unnatural, drooping slightly in places. But it was what was beneath his cloak that truly angered and saddened her.

Obito had lost one of his arms.

It was a realization that hurt Kushina more than she would show, and she was quite happy that she had a mask on so that no one else could witness her turmoil. Her first thought was to go out and murder every single one of the shinobi responsible for Obito's condition.

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed.

"Obito-kun," Kushina breathed out. "…How have you been?" Kushina huffed behind her mask. 'Wow, that was a freaking lame question.' But she didn't know what to say? 'Hey! Obito! Welcome back from the dead!' Nope, that would be weird.

Obito, bless his soul, took it all in stride.

"I'm doing well Anbu-sama! But…that doesn't matter right now! Rin is hurt and… needs help! We need to go! NOW!" Obito was practically panting. He was clearly exhausted. He also didn't seem to give a damn about his condition.

Minato sighed. This was gonna be a long day.

"Obito, calm down. We need you to explain the situation." Minato used his sensei voice, which got Obito's attention almost immediately. "As you can probably imagine, seeing someone who is supposed to be dead barge into your room screaming is somewhat, unsettling."

Obito paled at that, before blushing and rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, ha, sorry about that." Obito responded sheepishly. "It's just that Rin needs our help." He trailed off for a second before turning deathly serious. "She's in trouble, and we need to go help her as soon as possible."

Hiruzen nooded grimly in his chair. Rin had been abducted during a patrol a few days ago, apparently by ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Kakashi and a group of chunin had been sent out to find and recover her. If she was in trouble, well,… Hiruzen sighed. There was no telling what the Mist did to her. They were not known for being gentle with prisoners, let alone abductees. He only hoped she wasn't doing awfully.

7:00 AM – Clearing inside of the Land of Fire

Kakashi hated feeling helpless. There were times in his past when he had been helpless. Helpless to stop his father from killing himself. Helpless to protect Rin and save Obito. Kakashi's fists tightened as he tried to stave off the dark memories that came whenever he thought of his past. He took a deep breath. Obito was alive, somehow. And Rin. Well…

Kakashi glanced over to his left, where Rin was still lying. She was no longer rithing and screaming, which at least was a bit of progress. But she had an extremely high fever, and was clearly in pain. Toshie was doing his best to care for her and ease her pain, but there was only so much he could do out here in the field. And it wasn't like they could move her. If Toshie wasn't extremely gentle with her, she would let out another bloodcurdling scream as her pain flared.

And there was no way he could force her to endure that for hours as they rushed her back to Konoha.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure she would survive the journey.

And still, her condition was a mystery. Toshie had noticed signs of some other chakra in her system. Although what this other chakra was, was still a mystery. There was also the weird seal that they had seen inside her. Then again, Kakashi had no idea what the hell that was either.

Kakashi had to physically restrain himself from punching the ground repeatedly out of frustration.

'What have I done wrong? I've followed every shinobi rule. Hell, I made jonin at 13. That's extremely rare. I'm one of the deadliest ninja in Konoha. But…' Kakashi again looked over at the frail girl to his left. He was still useless. Kakashi looked towards the horizon, as the rising sun began to bathe the clearing in morning light.

Obito, you better hurry. We need you.

7:00 AM – Hokage's Office, Konohagakure

"And then Rin started screaming and collapsed. We tried to help her, but there was nothing we could do. She had some weird seal thingy in her. So I rushed back here to get you Minato-sensei, since you're really good at seals. And we probably need a medic as well."

Minato was still contemplating Obito's story. 'It was, how do you put this,…well, unsettling, to say the least.' Not to mention the fact that Minato had heard the rumors about the Hidden Mist's experimentations with jinchuriki. Minato shuddered. He could only hope that his worst fears would not come true.

But if it was true, then Rin would need help as soon as possible. And he was arguably the only person, besides Jiraiya, who could help her.

"Hokage-sama, I believe that I should go with Obito to help Rin." Minato-sensei met Hiruzen's gaze, communicating silently. This was the best shot he had. And he was not going to lose one of his students after just getting one back.

Hiruzen rubbed his temples. The war wasn't over yet, and he couldn't really spare his greatest weapon. The battle with Iwa was getting out of hand. Iwa was encroaching on Land of Fire lands. And they desperately needed someone to help. And the best candidate was obviously the Yellow Flash of the Leaf.

'Then again,' Hiruzen contemplated as he stared back at Minato, 'there was no way he was going to be able to stop him from going. And perhaps this clearing would be close enough to the border that he could help his student and then join the battle.' He sighed.

"Fine, Minato. You may go with your student." Hiruzen stated, in a resigned fashion. "But take Fox with you." To Fox's credit, he could tell she was completely unsurprised and was most likely brandishing her trademark smirk under her mask. She was insufferable. "Unfortunately we have no medics available for this mission. The battle with Iwa has taken a turn for the worse." He could feel Minato and the others' tension at that, but it was the truth. "And I want you to join the battle with Iwa once you have helped the girl. Understood?" The last word left no room for discussion.

Minato and Fox both nodded. Obito was almost bouncing on the soles of his feet as he was ready to go, forgetting all about his prior exhaustion. Hiruzen had to smile just a little at that.

"Well then, be gone."

Minato, Fox, and Obito all nodded. Minato and Fox grabbed hold of Obito, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hiruzen got up, turned around, and gazed out the window at the rising sun, and the buildings of Konoha spread out in front of him.

"I think it's about time we end this war."

8:15 AM – Clearing inside Land of Fire

'Damn. I knew Minato-sensei was fast, but I didn't realize he was this fast.' Somehow, Minato, Fox, who he confirmed was Kushina, and he had gotten all the way to the clearing in just over an hour, as opposed to the multiple hours it took him sprinting in order to get to the Hokage's tower. By using a clever combination of his trademark Hiraishin no Jutsu, the Shunshin no Jutsu, and just flat out speed, Minato had been able to get them to the clearing in record time.

And that was good, since Obito was not exaggerating Rin's condition in the slightest.

She looked awful. Her fever hadn't come down, and she was shaking somewhat uncontrollably. Her occasional muscle spasms and screams only made it worse. Hell, Minato was surprised other ninja hadn't found them earlier due to her cries of pain.

Kushina was talking to Toshie, the chunin medic of the group, about Rin's condition. And, based on her facial expressions, Rin was getting worse.

Kakashi, upon seeing his sensei, and his sensei's wife in Anbu armor, was extremely relieved. He was willing to help in any way, although he was somewhat disappointed when Minato told him to just patrol the outskirts of the clearing while he helped Rin. Kakashi still felt rather useless, but, well, he was. There was nothing he could do.

Minato was kneeling over Rin, attempting to do a diagnosis. Kakashi had told him that they had felt some kind of corrupted seal in Rin, which could be causing her condition. He wasn't entirely sure that any kind of seal could do this…but still, he had to try. He moved his hand above Rin's body, starting from her feet, up to her waist, and then…

Minato's eyes shot open.

'What in the name of Kami is that?'

Around Rin's stomach was some kind of seal that was leaking a strange chakra at an alarming pace. Minato could feel it interacting with Rin's chakra, disrupting her chakra and causing her pain. There was clearly a seal there, but it was definitely corrupted, decomposing unnaturally, and letting whatever chakra it held out.

Minato had to restrain himself from going over to Kiri and murdering every shinobi there. Who would do this to someone? Especially someone like Rin. Minato somehow found the ability to smile just a little at the memories of Rin keeping the peace between Kakashi and Obito and making sure they were okay.

'Still, what do I do?'

'Well,' Minato thought, 'first thing's first: I need to repair this seal.' Minato gingerly lifted part of Rin's shirt up, exposing her stomach. 'Thank Kami sensei isn't the one doing this.' Minato shuddered at that thought.

Minato was widely known as arguably the greatest fuinjutsu user alive. There were very few shinobi in the world who could match him.

Then again, the seal on Rin was a rather complex one, even in his experience. He guessed there were about three layers, based upon the seal's design. Then again, the seal was so corrupted and was decomposing so quickly that it was difficult to assume anything. Minato grimaced. It was unlikely he would be able to repair this seal. But he could stabilize it, and then replace the seal. 'Although, I need to know what this chakra is.'

Minato stretched his senses out. He wasn't a sensory type shinobi, but after years of training to find hidden shinobi in the midst of battle, he had developed a rather acute sense of chakra. He extended his senses in towards the seal on Rin's stomach. Rin shifted uncomfortably, but Minato pressed on. His chakra slowly maneuvered through the remnants of the seal, and the foreign chakra got stronger and stronger, until…

Minato's body recoiled. He pulled his chakra back instinctively. He didn't even make a conscious decision, hadn't even thought it through, but his body knew what that chakra was. Minato closed his eyes and once again had to stifle the massive wave of unrestrained killing intent that was brewing inside of him. He had only felt that kind of chakra once before. He glanced over at Kushina, who was still talking to Toshie, obviously trying to learn as much about what happened as possible. Obito was hovering by them, looking nervous as well. Minato clenched his fists.

'To put that inside a girl as young as Rin?' Minato knew that Kiri was a sick and twisted place, but this was a new low.

But at least now he knew what to do.

"Kushina-san, I need your help." Kushina looked up to see Minato, deadly serious, looking expectedly towards her. Kushina was aware of Rin's condition, but didn't realize Minato had done a diagnosis of the girl. 'And if he is this worried and serious after doing a diagnosis, then I can't imagine what they did to Rin.' Kushina had to stamp out some of her motherly instinct before responding. She had always liked Rin. The girl was always kind and caring, and always put others first. They were attributes she hoped her child would one day have. And to see her like this? Kushina was ready to kill someone.

But she couldn't do that right now. She walked over to Minato. "What's wrong with her?" She asked.

Minato sighed. "There is a seal on her, and it's corrupted and decomposing. A foreign chakra is interacting with Rin's chakra and causing her this pain."

Kushina looked confused. "A foreign chakra? Like, what kind of foreign chakra?"

Minato did not respond immediately, rather clenching his fist even tighter than before.

"A tailed beast."

The clearing seemed to grow deathly quiet. Minato had only whispered the sentence, but Kushina was pretty sure everyone had heard him somehow. 'What kind of sick fuck would put a tailed beast in a 14 year old girl?' Kushina was so angry that she could barely keep her voice from breaking.

"What do you need me to do?" Kushina wanted answers, but most of all, she wanted to know how to save the girl that she had spent so many days talking and bonding with. She wanted to know how to save the girl she hoped would be a role model for her child.

"I need you to give me some of the Kyuubi's chakra. I need it to subdue the beast while I get rid of the current seal and replace it with the eight-trigrams." Kushina blinked. 'The eight-trigrams? Was that the Uzumaki's ultimate sealing jutsu?' Kushina knew that Minato had been researching the Uzumaki sealing records in order to build a new seal for her tailed beast. She didn't know many of the details, but she had helped him with part of the design. But there was another problem.

"I don't know if I can give you the Kyuubi's chakra." Kushina sounded ashamed, even though there was nothing to be ashamed about. While she was the jinchuriki, and she could use some of the Kyuubi's power, because small bits of it leaked out, and the Kyuubi seemed to like her more than its previous jinchuriki, she had no idea if she could transfer it to another person.

Minato sighed. 'This isn't going well.' "Can you try? Maybe, can you ask it?" Kushina didn't think she would be more shocked at the moment. 'He wants me to talk to the Kyuubi? Ugh, wonderful. Just freaking wonderful.'

"I'll try." Kushina closed her eyes and drew her chakra inward, concentrating on calling out to the tailed beats trapped in her body. After about ten seconds, she opened her eyes, and was standing in front of a massive red fox chained to a stone. The fox opened its eyes, and glared down at Kushina.

"And what do you want?" Kushina still wasn't entirely sure how something so big was trapped inside of her. Hell, one of the Kyuubi's eyes was bigger than Kushina. And it was inside of her. Kushina shuddered just a little whenever she thought about it. But she steeled herself and met the beast's gaze.

"I need some of your chakra." Kushina waited for a second, before peeking her eyes open to look up at the Kyuubi. At first it looked incredulous, before throwing its head back and roaring in laughter. A tic mark appeared over Kushina's eye.

"Hey! What the hell's so funny? I don't need a lot! Just a little! And the only reason I need it is to subdue another tailed beast!" Kushina blinked. 'Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that last part.' Then again, the Kyuubi stopped laughing and peered down curiously at its jailor.

"You want my power to subdue one of my brethren?" 'Was that curiosity I heard?' Kushina was somewhat taken aback by the fox's sudden and dramatic change in behavior. Then again, 'didn't Mito say that the fox can be arrogant?' A sly smirk appeared on Kushina's lips.

"Well of course! You're the most powerful of the tailed beasts, am I wrong?" Kushina breathed out in an overly dramatic fashion. When the fox bared its teeth, Kushina was somewhat afraid that it was going to try and eat her. '…Wait,…I think it's smiling.' Kushina shivered. That was even more unsettling.

"Fine. I will grant you some of my power this time." Kushina's eyes went wide. 'That worked?' Kushina's smirk returned. 'Damn, he's even easier to play than Minato.' She snorted at that thought, before realizing she had left the fox hanging. She bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Kyuubi. You will not regret this."

The fox hmphed in response, before Kushina opened her eyes and was back at Minato's side.

Minato looked up at her expectantly. Kushina nodded. Minato nodded in return, then turned back to Rin.

Minato took a few steadying breaths, before beginning a series of hand signs. Normally, Minato would not need hand signs to perform fuinjutsu. He was capable of creating seals without them. But this seal was a new seal. 'It's also the only seal I know that will be able to restrain a tailed beast. However, if it works correctly, it could give Rin a huge amount of power.' Minato closed his eyes again, finishing the hand signs, and extended his hand to Rin's stomach, pushing his chakra towards the seal once again.

He would have to deconstruct the seal, and then make a new seal in an extremely short period of time, otherwise the tailed beats inside Rin could escape, killing all of them instantly. 'That was probably Kiri's plan,' Minato thought darkly.

The seal deconstruction was going well. While the seal was multi-layered, it was not as complex as he had first thought. He also learned it had a time component on it, and was most likely scheduled to decompose after a certain period of time, confirming Minato's hypothesis. Minato grimaced and kept on, before reaching the final layer. He could feel the chakra, a massive amount of it, just below his hand.

He was going to make a sign to Kushina, but she seemed to have sensed it as well. She placed her hands on his back, and he felt the chakra flood into his body. At first, the familiar feel of Kushina's chakra: warm and inviting. But then, he could feel the Kyuubi's chakra swirling around inside of him: dark, malevolent, and extremely powerful. Minato took another steadying breath, and began to direct the Kyuubi's chakra towards the tailed beast inside of Rin.

The collision of the chakras was spectacular. He could feel the chakra in Rin surge against the Kyuubi's, and he was somewhat worried that Rin could be seriously hurt or killed by the amount of energy that was being released. But he didn't sense any change in her condition. 'Thankfully.'

Minato waited until he felt the chakras stabilize. The Kyuubi's chakra was keeping the other tailed beast's charka in check, allowing Minato to prepare for the eight trigrams seal. First, he summoned the sealing altar, and gingerly placed Rin on it, careful not to disturb the girl's fragile body.

Then, while maintaining the flow of the Kyuubi's chakra, Minato finished the preparation for the sealing jutsu and placed his palm on Rin's stomach.

"Hakke no Fuin Shiki."

The reaction was violent. The tailed beast, seemingly aware of the fact that it was being sealed again, fought viciously against Minato. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead as he used the Kyuubi to try and fight the tailed beast. He could feel the seal slowly close in on the tailed beast.

But he struggle continued. The brutal battle of wills swung back and forth between Minato and the Kyuubi and the tailed beast inside Rin. A sensei trying to save his pupil, and a beast trying to win its freedom. Minato felt Kushina tense, and then felt more of the Kyuubi's chakra enter his body, and he quickly used it to subdue the beast.

Another bead of sweat appeared on Minato's forehead. 'Just a few more seconds.'

He could feel the tailed beats writhing inside the seal, trying desperately to escape. But then, he felt the seal lock in place. The tension slowly drained out of Minato's shoulders.

'It's done.'

Minato looked up at Rin. She seemed to be doing better. She was no longer spasming, and did not seem to be in pain. She seemed to be sleeping rather peacefully. Minato smiled.

'It's over. Thank Kami it's over.'

So, this chapter was a bit disjointed and I'm not entirely happy with the way it played out. Leave a review if you have any thoughts. Thanks again guys, and I hope to be updating this story more regularly!