Prologue: The Beginning

Minato stood on the Hokage monument, staring at the demon fox which was currently destroying his village with a steely calm that only came from years of combat experience. The air around him quickly grew dense as the Kyuubi, strongest of the bijuu, focused its oppressive killing intent upon the Yondaime Hokage. It was a testament to his strength that the man's only reaction was mild surprise that the beast had noticed him so quickly, but then again, he was an awe inspiring figure with a vibrant chakra and a flowing cloak, the flames on the bottom of which appeared to dance in the wind. The demon was unfazed by Minato's presence, and quickly gathered a dark orb of chakra in its mouth, intending to annihilate the village leader and the faces of those before him. As the fox sent the blast of energy careening towards the Hokage, the ninja, with some quick handseals, transported the powerful attack away from the village and into the mountains behind him.

The ensuing explosion lit up the sky, casting Konoha in an eerie, apocalyptic glow. While the population below, both civilians and ninja, had been trembling from the oppressive aura the beast exuded, the presence of their leader, and his ability to negate the attack of such a raging force of nature, sparked some small hope in their hearts. If there was any man capable of defeating the demon, Minato was the one.

Sensing a presence behind him, the fourth quickly spun around with kunai in hand, attempting to stab his attacker through the head. There was a rare look of surprise on his face as his attack phased right through his enemy, now recognized as the same man that had interfered with his son's birth, threatening both other members of the family. The masked individual, no longer under the effects of his space-time jutsu, grabbed Minato's wrist and attempted to warp the young kage into another dimension, intent on preventing interference with the demon's destruction.

Minato, his reflexes barely allowing him to teleport away with his own space-time technique, began to ponder his opponent's abilities only to look up in shock as the cloaked figure slowly appeared right out of thin air to continue his assault on the village leader.

"You won't escape me," came the smug remark from the obviously dangerous man. There was no need to see under his mask, sporting a single eyehole and tiger like markings, to take in the confidence that dripped off his being.

The fourth stared at his enemy, slowly putting together the pieces of the puzzle. The man had been able to infiltrate the village, defeat a team of ANBU, and time his attack for when Kushina, the jinchuuriki of the beast, was most vulnerable. The stranger's further ability to remove and summon the ninetails from the host's body solidified Minato's conclusion.

"Are you… Madara Uchiha?"

The man didn't react except to slip his hood off his hair, subtly demonstrating that with his identity guessed there was no need to hide himself. He amusedly responded to the Hokage's grappling with this new fact and claim that it couldn't be true, glad to see the confusion in the young man's eyes – after all, Madara supposedly died many years ago.

"Oh, I don't know about that. I'm just a humble old man, doing elderly things: starting a war to bring peace."

"It doesn't matter who you are anyways. Anyone who has attacked the village with such deluded goals must be defeated regardless." Minato's reply betrayed the worry he felt; his opponent was apparently able to not only survive a battle with the Shodaime Hokage, but also fake his death to such a powerful ninja. Coupled with his acknowledgment of Madara's destruction intentions, he knew that this was a battle he could not afford to lose.

Madara chose this moment to jump into action, charging straight at the Hokage with a long chain, connected to his wrists behind his back, dragging after him. As Minato once again attempted to stab with his unique three pronged kunai, the old Uchiha allowed the attack to flow right through him, only to unphase just in time for his chain to wrap about the Yondaime. Pulling his chain tight around the blonde haired shinobi, Madara's pleasure at his victory quickly disappeared, along with his trapped opponent.

'He truly lives up to his moniker "the Yellow Flash,"' mused the masked ninja.

Minato was having thoughts of his own. Apparently his enemy was only capable of being hit when he dropped his transparency in order to make an attack of his own. Coming up with a new plan, he initiated the a new charge, both shinobi fluidly racing towards the other. Shortly before their collision, the fourth threw one of his kunai into the eye of his opponent, unperturbed as it sailed right through. Madara, changing tactics from before, attempted to grab his opponent as Minato formed a spiraling ball of chakra, his signature jutsu, the Rasengan, in his right hand.

Dust flew into the air as, at the last minute, the Yondaime used his space-time technique to warp to his kunai, which was now in the air behind Madara, and slam the Rasengan into his enemy's back. However, before fatal damage could be done, the Uchiha managed to escape and put some distance between the two of them, hunched posture and blood dripping down his arm indications of the damage he had received. His visible eye widened in shock as he found the young kage in instantly in front of him, slamming a contract seal into his chest to sever his control of the demon fox. Realizing that his ambitions would have to be put on hold, Madara teleported far away from the village, but not before issuing some parting words to Minato.

"You managed to wound me and wrest the control of the fox away from me, but someday in the future it will be mine once again. At that point both the demon and the world will bow to my desires; there are still many doors open to me."

Minato stared at the empty space Madara had just recently occupied, a feeling of dread settling over him due to his belief that the village founder had been telling the truth. 'No time for that now,' he thought to himself, 'I have to find a way to deal with the fox.' But try as he might, he could not completely push the confrontation out of his mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elsewhere in the forest, leaf shinobi were keeping the demon fox at bay, having successfully driven it out of the village through nothing but their will alone. The powerful mindset known as the 'Will of Fire' was something the ninja prided themselves on – the will to never give up, to do whatever was necessary to preserve Konoha and the Land of Fire. It was this mindset that was causing great frustration to a group of young ninja who were eager to fight against the Kyuubi; however, their elders and commanding officers were ordering them to stand down, saying that this was a problem the village had created, and for that reason those who had created it should be stopping it, not the young who still had much to see in life.

Such concerns were about to be in vain, however, as the enormous demon once again gathered chakra to its mouth for a destructive attack. This time it wasn't the monument that was threatened, but the entire city lying below it. Watching from a distance, the partially recovered Hokage became aware of the danger and instantly managed to summon an enormous toad, crushing the fox into the forest and preventing it from carrying out its attack immediately. The spectators cheered as they saw the summon, smoking a large pipe and bearing tribal markings on its belly, land on the village's attacker. They knew that this was Gamabunta, the boss of the toads, and the Yondaime Hokage's personal summon; it could only mean that their leader had persevered and was back to defeat the enormous bijuu.

Realizing that the fox had somehow managed to retain control over its chakra despite being sat upon by an enormous, wart covered animal, Minato, without hesitation, used a space-time technique to transport both himself and the fox to the distant mountains. Once again, an eerie light filled the sky as the demon's attack detonated. Kneeling on the rocky earth, his wife and child now with him, he asked Kushina to use her abilities to hold down the nine tailed beast. Although nearly out of chakra from the hardships of childbirth and the extraction of the Kyuubi, chains shot out and captured the fox, holding it down as the woman activated her technique and Minato set up a barrier around the area.

The presence of his newborn son was for an obvious reason. Each village had at least one tailed beast sealed into a human host; these jinchuuriki were powerful weapons that maintained a balance of power between the nations. Tradition mandated that the hosts were of relation to the ruling family in order to maintain loyalty to the village. It would be disastrous for a country if their beast ended up in the hands of another. Clearly, Minato was intending to sacrifice the happiness of his son, creating future hardships in order to preserve the village's weapon; it was the unfortunate duty of the Hokage to prioritize the village over his life, and the life of his family. It was for this reason that instead of sealing the beast back into his wife, where it would die and she did, he intended to seal it into his newborn son, Naruto, along with his hopes of a savior from Madara. The cost for such a technique would be his life.

Summoning the death god, Minato performed the first sealing jutsu, pulling half of the foxes chakra into his body in order to allow the sealing of the rest into Naruto. Fighting the numbness caused by the heavy chakra of the demon, he prepared to use a second seal in order to complete the creation of the new jinchuuriki. However, Kushina's concentration momentarily lapsed, allowing the fox, who had now discerned the Yondaime's plan, to stab a claw toward the newborn in an attempt to preserve its own life. Its goal would not be met though, as both mother and father jumped in front of the attack, being stabbed through by the beast but managing to deflect the full attack from Naruto.

That sense of painful relief was quickly removed by Minato's cursing: while the demon had failed to kill the baby, it was only because its corrosive chakra had cauterized the area where Naruto's right arm used to be. Life fading from his eyes, Minato had no choice but to seal the rest of the beast into his son despite the disadvantages that a crippled jinchuuriki would have. Finishing the eight triagrams seal, father and mother collapsed to the ground, dead. The only sound left in the destroyed region was that of a wailing child, and the soft footsteps of the shinobi who raced past the now fallen barrier to rescue him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

5 Years Later

Naruto, so far, had experienced a difficult life. In addition to the boy only have one arm, the villagers were incredibly nervous around the child, and their fear and hate of the demon fox had impacted the manner in which they treated the young boy. Since his lineage had been kept secret, there was nothing to spare the boy from the harsh treatment aside from the occasional intervention by the Sandaime Hokage. While the old man cared deeply for his successor's son, his duties only allowed him the occasional visit; the most the shinobi could do was provide an apartment and monthly stipend for the child.

The young Uzumaki had just moved into his new apartment. The old Hokage had felt that, sadly, living alone at such a young age would allow for better development than the care he was receiving at the orphanage. He had no friends. The children easily picked up on the manner in which the adults shunned Naruto, and, deciding that he was a target to be bullied, frequently attacked the 5 year old and made childish remarks about his missing limb.

Currently the boy was sitting on his bed, knees huddled to his chest. He knew that nobody liked him because of his disability, and that there was no other reason other kids were adopted while he was passed over until even the Sandaime had given up and sent him to live by himself, where he wouldn't bother anybody. Dressed in an atrocious orange and blue jumpsuit, he hugged the one toy he had: a pug plushy that had been waiting on his bed when he arrived. He jumped in surprise when he heard a knock at the door. The third had just been over to see how he was doing, and he did not think anybody else would be coming by to see him.

He slowly got off his bed and answered the door, coming face to face with a slightly pale man. The individual was wearing ordinary civilian clothes and had long greasy hair tied into a pony tail; Naruto, when he looked up at the man's eyes, could swear that they took on a yellowish tint at the right angle.

"Hi… can I help you mister?" Naruto asked, curious and confused, but still remembering what little manners he had been taught.

"Kukukuku… why yes my little Naruto-kun," the man answered, bringing an arm out from behind his back to reveal a steaming bowl of ramen, "I have a gift for you. May I come in?"

Naruto began to drool from the scent of the noodles. He rarely ate anything tasty, having yet to discover Ichiraku's and always being overcharged at the restaurants and grocers he did frequent. He bounced up and down in excitement.

"Yes!" he replied quickly, before squinting his eyebrows and amending his statement, "…if that food is your gift mister!"

The pale man laughed once again, before nodding, "Of course Naruto-kun, but I have another gift you might be interested in as well."

Any suspicions Naruto might have had were alleviated after he let the man in and took his first bite of ramen. It was delicious! He quickly wolfed down the food, manners going out the window as his stomach took over. Finishing the bowl, he gave a loud burp and a contented sigh before once again realizing that he had company. Company that was now looking him over with a calculating, yet amused, expression.

"Eh… mister… what's the other gift you have?" Naruto shifted in his seat, unable to contain his eagerness. "Is it as good as this food was?"

The man chuckled out a reply, "Kukuku… I think you'll have to be the judge of that yourself, Naruto-kun."

Naruto was about to ask what he meant by that, only to be distracted as his eyelids grew heavy. As his vision blurred, he tried to watch as the stranger got up and moved towards him, only to fail as he fell face first into the now empty bowl of ramen.

His visitor grinned as he scooped up the young boy and tossed him over his shoulder, making towards the door. "Oh Naruto-kun, what I am going to give you is more than you could even know to ask for."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Sandaime had been incredibly preoccupied the past week, ever since Naruto had vanished without a trace. The council had been in an uproar as they feared that another village had gotten its hands on the child and either planned to train it as a weapon or release the beast upon Konoha. His thoughts were interrupted as an ANBU burst into the room.

"Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi looked up at the intrusion, motioning for the ninja to continue.

"We found Naruto Uzumaki sir, just a few minutes ago. He's on his way to the hospital!" The ANBU watched as concern grew in the old man's eyes.

"The hospital? Where was he found and what type of injury does he have?" Sarutobi asked, deeply inhaling from his pipe.

"He was found unconscious on his doorstep. We're not sure what, but something happened to his arm. You should come see for yourself!"

The Sandaime bolted up from his chair, and rushed to the hospital. His mind was filled with terrible concerns – the largest of which was that some sick shinobi had decided to kidnap the boy and make sure to further cripple him by damaging his remaining left arm. Nothing could have prepared him, however, for what he walked into when he entered Naruto's room. His left arm was in pristine condition, but his right was completely covered in bandages. His pipe dropped from his mouth upon the realization: the boy had a right arm now.

'What the hell have you gotten yourself into Naruto…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

AN: I feel like that last reveal was kind of lacking in impact, but couldn't really figure out how to give it more of one. I plan to continue this story, unlike my other one which I am now officially abandoning after the half-ass job I did on the second chapter. I will hopefully update this one! If you guys have any suggestions as far as writing, I am all ears. I'd also be interested in any ideas you have for what ability Naruto ended up with from Oro—er, the pale man's *wink wink nudge nudge*, experimentation. I mean, come on, like he would settle for just giving the kid an ordinary arm?

Anyways I hope you enjoyed the intro, if not I'm sorry but at least it's not all that long ;-)

I ended up dropping the only class I was taking this summer and have an injury preventing me from working out, so I have some time that I will spend on this. After this chapter I'm going to aim for no chapters less than 4000 words, excluding author's notes.