Chapter 1: The Beginning.

This disclaimer shall apply to all the future chapters and this one. I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimito

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Kurama was a misunderstood entity, the one who understood him was his father, the Rikudo Sennin, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and his son, Asura, came a close second. He hated humans because of all the hate they had in them. His father was a peace loving man, he wanted the humans to co-exist and live in harmony.

That is why he had judged his elder son, the one who had a hunger for more and more power, unfit to be his successor.

Kurama, who had ever so grown closer with Asura and had come to respect him for his ideals, approved of this decision.

Overcome by grief and hatred for when Asura had been killed by Indra, Kurama started distancing himself from the humans.

It would be centuries later after years of roaming freely would he be captured by Madara Uchiha in a powerful genjutsu.

After Madara's control over him was ended and the haze over his mind lifted, all he wanted was to go and become isolated from the world again but something stopped him. He was able to sense his friend once again, however faintly that might be.

Asura's spirit lived yet, it was in the form of Hashirama Senju, but all his dreams and hopes were squashed when Hashirama had said this, "Kyuubi! Your power is too great, regrettably I cannot let you run loose." and then proceeded to capture him with his Mokuton.

Kurama was then sealed by an Uzumaki, another descendant of his best friend. It was at that moment that he grew jaded and his hatred towards humans started festering.

After Mito Uzumaki's life neared its end, he was transferred to another host, Uzumaki Kushina.

He bided his time, to free himself so he would be free again and then exact his vengeance on the people who wronged him.

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The giant fox struggled against the golden chains that were holding him down. He could see his previous container straining to hold him down, sooner more than later he would be free from those accursed chains would be free.

On an altar in front of the bound fox was a baby barely out of the womb, He had blonde hair and three whisker marks on either side of his cheeks , his eyes were closed but would be blue as was his father's. The babe was crying, sensing the malevolent aura around him.

The Kyuubi realized what the Yondaime had planned, but no, he would not be held down again, he would not be contained, he swiped his claw intending to pierce the babe in the altar and free himself from another life of being imprisoned but the claw never reached the intended target…. he was shielded by his mother and father.

A visage of a demon appeared behind Minato, It had purplish skin and two red horns protruding from its forehead. It was garbed in white garment and had a tantō in its mouth. The entity was much bigger than Minato.

At Minato's behest, the Shinigami pierced a hand through Minato's chest and unsealed his tantō. The Yondaime said to his wife, "Kushina, I will seal the Kyuubi's Yang half into Naruto…" he gasped but willed himself through the pain, "Its Yin half into myself this will ensure that in future Naruto won't be influenced by Kyuubi's evil nature." He said through pinched breath

The Shinigami cut out a portion of Kyuubi's chakra and sealed it into Minato as seals appeared around its arms. Minato did another set of seals and called out" Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)." Kyuubi's form began to shrink and started to flow into the baby's stomach. A spiralling seal with Kanji written around it formed on Naruto's stomach. With that the sealing process was finished.

Minato had been ready to be sealed into the Shinigami's stomach, waiting for the embrace of death which never came. When he opened his eyes the Shinigami was still there, staring at him, unmoving. Just when Minato was about to act, an impossibly deep voice bellowed, "Mortal, There is a perilous event happening in future and this child will play an important part in it. I in my utmost mercy will grant you this night to right the wrongs that would have happened if I took your soul right here and right now. Use this time wisely and I will be here to collect your soul on the morrow." When the Shinigami disappeared, Minato's wounds disappeared as well.

When the Sandaime along with the ANBU appeared on the site, they found a silent Minato with a wailing Naruto and Kushina in his arms.

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Sarutobi was an old man, he had been through the three great Shinobi wars and had seen many deaths, but there was nothing like witnessing your loved one dying. He knew all too well how Minato must have felt….after all he had just heard of his wife's death as well. He put a comforting hand on Minato's shoulder and felt him tremble beneath his warm touch.

Minato held himself there for what seemed like hours. He stood up and turned around to meet Sandaime's soft gaze. The talk with Shinigami had left him with many doubts as to how the village would treat Naruto…'right the wrongs that would have happened if I took your soul right here right now.' The sentence struck a chord of doubt in his heart, he had meant for Naruto to be the considered a hero for holding back the Kyuubi but now he wasn't sure if the village would hold his faith.

"What I'm about to tell you should remain a secret between us Sandaime-dono" he whispered.

Hiruzen nodded.

"I've sealed half of Kyuubi into Naruto using Hakke no Fūin Shiki and the other half into myself using Shiki Fūjin. By all means I should be dead but the Shinigami has granted me a day to say my goodbyes."

"I want this to be a secret, the fact that Naruto is the jinchuriki of Kyuubi No Yoko shouldn't be known to anyone."

Sarutobi understood why Minato wanted this to be a secret, jinchurikis weren't always treated with positivity. People believed that jinchurikis were the demon reincarnate themselves and treated them badly. So he agreed to keep it a secret.

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Minato entered the Hokages office and sent an ANBU to summon Kakashi, Sandaime along with other Clan heads were present there. Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke few minutes later, and looked around in a bit of confusion. Then he saw the child in his Sensei's arms and somewhat understood the situation.

Minato explained as he held a crying Naruto in his arms.

"I've sealed the Kyuubi into myself and am destined to die tomorrow" he lied.

Murmurs went along the room where the Clan Heads seemed to grasp the severity of the situation.

"I'm naming my student Kakashi and my Sensei Jiraiya, protector of my legacy and they shall be so until Naruto comes of age."

"The fact that I am Naruto's parent and Kushina's identity should remain secret as there are many enemies that would want him dead just because of his connection to Me." he continued

Kakashi was surprised, he wasn't expecting this, and he thought that Sensei would name Sandaime the protector or Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-Sama for that matter.

Many other clan members had same thoughts regarding this.

Tsume Inuzaka, the matriarch of Inuzaka clan protested "Yondaime sama, I know that Kakashi is your trusted student but he is still young, and he has his ANBU duties to take care of…As for Jiraiya Sama, he will be busy with his spy network. Are you sure they can take care of baby Naruto along with all that?"

Hiashi said "Minato, I agree with Tsume san, at least let me look after him, I am sure Hitomi and Hinata would give him the company he will need."

Minato nodded and said "Yes, which is why until Kakashi and or Jiraiya-sensei are available, I will be placing my son in the care of the Toads. There is a man out there, he extracted the Kyuubi out of Kushina." Minato paused a bit, still raw over his wife's death

"He unleashed the Kyuubi over our village and is the culprit. I'm placing Naruto in Fukasaku and Shima-samas care so that he will be safe there. I trust my sensei to know when to bring him to Konoha…..would you please look out for him when he returns? I would forever be in your debt." Minato skipped the part about the Sharingan that the masked man possessed.

"We would be happy to." answered Inoichi for all of them.

"Minato, Uchiha clan's doors will always be open to your kin." Fugaku said.

"I know old friend, I trust you to advice Sandaime-sama as you did when I was a Hokage." Minato said with a smile and hugged Fugaku.

After a few short words, he asked them all to excuse them except for Kakashi and Fugaku.

The clan heads nodded and shuffled out along with Sarutobi. He signalled the ANBU guards to leave as well.

"Kakashi…..our team was precious to me, I never told you guys this but I loved you all three like a family. People come and go but the bonds you create with them…they last as long as you keep them in your heart. The loss of Obito and Rin struck us both but with me being involved in war, I never got the time to talk about their loss with you…to comfort you…I'm sorry." Minato took a deep breath.

"But as my time is near, I would like to tell you this one thing, Bad things do happen to us in life; we lose the people we love but how you respond to that defines your character and the quality of your life. You can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of the loss, or you can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift we have - life itself."

Kakashi was silent through this, but his sensei's words seemed to strike a chord with him.

The man who was like a second father to him was about to die and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Kushina once told me that the key to countering the Kyuubi's rage was to fill one's self with love. In our absence, please look after Naruto. Love him like Kushina loved you, love him like your brother…..teach him what I taught you.

"I've placed a great burden upon Naruto's shoulders, it the burden of containing the malice and hatred of the fox."

"Bu-but sensei, you said that you sealed Kyuubi into yourself?!" Kakashi said.

"I lied, I wanted the village to know the truth about his burden, I wanted them to treat him like the Hero he is…but as much as I want to, I can't place my faith onto them.

"Many have died in this attack, people have lost their families…this event will breed hatred, and I'm afraid that that hatred would be projected onto Naruto. To save him from that childhood, I lied. This is a secret just between us three, Jiraiya-sensei and Sandaime-sama."

Minato wrote a letter to Jiraiya explaining asking him to meet with the Toads as soon as possible. He knew that his sensei was busy with a S Rank recon mission back in Kumo. He wrote another letter to Naruto that would be given to him when he was of age explaining who he was and why he had to do that and why his identity was kept a secret. He removed the photo from the frame on his desk.

It was a photo of a pregnant Kushina and Minato, both smiling. He put the picture in the envelope and pocketed the second later

After giving Kakashi the long overdue pep talk, Minato gave Kakashi a long hug after which he grabbed Fugaku, who had been silent throughout this and disappeared with his signature move.

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They reappeared at top of the Hokage Monument, they were silent for a few minutes, looking over at the destruction that the beast had left in its wake. Even at this moment, the Uchiha Police Force was helping the villagers with the search and rescue missions, Minato felt that he should be there, helping out his fellow villagers but there were grave matters that needed attending to first.

"I'll miss you, you know. I might not have many friends, might not be the most sociable person, might not be as good of a human as you are but know this Minato Namikaze, you are and would be my first and my dearest friend." Fugaku said stoically but he was tearing up on the inside.

Their friendship had grown out Fugaku's one sided rivalry with Minato. It was then that Minato had saved Fugaku's life that the seeds of their friendship had been sown.

"Fugaku, only Jiraiya-sensei, the Toads and the Sandaime will know about this. The man who extracted Kyuubi put the Biju under a powerful genjutsu…he did so with the help of the sharingan he possessed." Minato let that fact sink in.

"I suspect Madara Uchiha as the culprit…many people saw the spinning tomoe of sharingan in the eyes of the beast. This will surely spark of some rumours regarding your clan. We both know that Uchiha is one of the oldest and a prideful clan…but don't let your pride come between performing your duty to the village, this is my advice to you as your friend and not the Hokage that I was." Minato gave him his last bit of advice.

"Take care of my son, let him be friends with Sasuke-kun and give mine and Kushina's love to Mikoto." Minato asked of his best friend.

They stayed there in silence until little Naruto woke up. Bidding his farewell, Minato flashed away.

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He looked at her lifeless body, all the warmth that was her had faded away. He placed little Naruto near her and waited…..waited for the personification of death itself to take him away from this mortal world.

The ANBU had brought Kushina's body to the morgue, she was kept there to preserve her body for until their Hokage came back.

He hated this feeling, he felt so helpless to do anything, his wife had died by saving their son and soon….soon he would be with her.

He ordered the ANBU to guard her body as he took Naruto and flashed away to Mount Myoboku.

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Gamabunta was gulping down sake, regaling some younger toads of how he held down the Kyuubi for his favourite summoner when Minato appeared on top of his head with little Naruto in tow.

"Speak of the devil, eh?" Bunta said to the others.

"I assume you sealed the Kyuubi into someone?" Gamahiro, one of the smartest giant Toad asked.

"Yes-yes, I'll tell you all about that later….Bunta, where is Shima-sama?" he asked with an sense of urgency.

"Back at the house, why?!" Gamabunta asked, picking up at his summoner's distress.

"Thanks, come on, let's go." He said as he flashed Bunta and himself outside the Toad Lodge.

"What's' the matter Minato? Why are you in such a hurry?!" Bunta asked.

"My son, Naruto here is the new jinchuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko….I sealed it into him with Shiki Fūjin and used myself as the sacrifice…." Minato was saying as Shima came out sensing Minato's chakra.

"Ara, Minato-chan! Come in-come in. It's cold outside." The female elder toad beckoned them inside in a motherly fashion once she saw Naruto bundled in his arms.

"Would you like something to eat? Or drink perhaps?" Fukasaku asked unaware of the situation.

"No! Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama…I've sealed Kyuubi into Naruto with the help of Shinigami-" Minato said.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Gamabunta bellowed.

"Calm down Bunta, Minato must've had a good reason for that." Fukasaku reprimanded Gamabunta.

"Yes, the Kyuubi was under the influence of a genjutsu casted by a masked man, he possessed a fully mature Sharingan." Minato said and let that sink in…

"That's impossible, only Madara Uchiha has been ever able to control the Kyuubi…" Gamabunta said.

"Which leads me to my suspicions…he might be Madara Uchiha. I marked him with my Hiraishin seal but he seems to be under the protection of a Triple-S barrier. I can't sense him anymore." Minato sighed….he was utterly exhausted. After fighting the masked man and sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, he was left drained.

"The Shinigami spoke to me, he said that there is a perilous event that's going to happen in future and my son…Naruto is going to be at the centre of it….he gave me this night to as he said, 'right the wrongs that would've happened had he taken my soul at that instant'."

Fukasaku and Shima were silent, pondering over the situation when Minato spoke again, "The masked man might come back for the Kyuubi, so I'm entrusting in your care…until Jiraiya deems it fit to take him back to Konoha"

"We'd be happy to, we'd love having Naru-chan here. We'll treat him as our own." Shima said as she began cooing over the baby.

"Please tell what we've spoken about to sensei, I couldn't put the fact about the sharingan in the letter, I owe at least that much to Fugaku." Minato said thinking about his best friend, he hoped Naruto and little Sasuke could form a bond like that as well.

"It's almost morning, I'm leaving him in your care….I've sealed most of my chakra and a little bit of Kushina's chakra in the seal. Now let me be with my wife." Minato parted with the Toads, leaving a last kiss on Naruto's forehead.

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Death was an aspect of the Eternal Godhead, and as the Eternal Consciousness was omnipresent and omniscient, so was it.

In this world, death was personified as a two horned entity that fit in with the culture of this world nicely, Shinigami it was called.

The perks of being omnipresent and omniscient was that you were everywhere and knew everything at the same time…..actually that's what being those two things meant. Anyways, back to the point, the Shinigami knew that the future had changed when the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi into his child.

The future that he saw made it impossible for it to carry out his deed, there would be no souls left to lead if that future came to be because every living creature would become synthetic and would lose their souls to someone else.

A soul had tremendous power, and one with that many souls would be able to technically attain godhood. They would have power over this world's reality…sure they wouldn't be able to move past this world's boundaries but this world would be lost forever.

It was not allowed, to meddle with the fate of one world but the Shinigami was bind by a human contract, death would take one sacrifice and in return would seal the other entity for the contracted human. It was just bending the rules a bit that allowed the Shinigami to set the world on a different course of fate.

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It was time, time to collect its sacrifice. The sun was peaking over the horizon casting its golden hue on the Mountain of the Toads. The Shinigami looked at the one who had contracted him, bidding his friends and family one last good bye.

He looked at the prophesized child, sun kissed blonde hair…just like his father's, amethyst colored eyes that belonged to his mother and three whiskered marks on each cheek, courtesy of the most powerful Biju in existence.

Willing himself into a semi-corporal form, the Shinigami placed his hand over the Fourth Hokage's shoulder.

Coldness seeped through the Yondaime as his body came into contact with the embodiment of death itself.

Taking in the view of his son's future family, Minato passed away with a bitter-sweet smile on his face.

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That's it boys and girls, this is the first rewritten chapter of my first story 'One More Day' which has been renamed as 'Few More Hours'.

Kindly Read and leave me lots of reviews but please, mention stuff that I need to improve upon in the reviews.

I hope you people have a great day :)