Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

The Village Hidden in the Leaves had seen much. As the first organised shinobi village, they had survived the final days of the clan wars. They had fought in all three shinobi world wars, and although they had lost much, they had survived, thanks in no small part to their exceptional Kage.

Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime Hokage, Mokuton user, an ingenious medic, and the most powerful shinobi of his era.

Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, with a mastery over water matched only by the three-tailed turtle, and one of the world's few space-time ninjutsu users.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, summoner of the Ape Clan and known for his skill in politics and his incredibly powerful collaboration jutsu.

And Minato Namikaze.

The Yellow Flash and the Bane of Hidden Rock. The fastest man alive. The world's foremost sealing master, greater than even his teacher, Jiraiya of the Sannin. No matter his actions, his skills were revered –and feared- throughout the Elemental even for incredible Yondaime Hokage, sealing a tailed beast was not an easy task. This was not helped by the fact that he was dying. Alongside his wife Kushina.

Kushina Uzumaki. Princess of whirlpool country before its fall, grandniece of the Shodaime Hokage's wife Mito Uzumaki, the Hidden Leafs greatest Kenjutsu master, and most relevantly…the second jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed very same tailed beast that was currently sticking a gigantic claw through her and her husband. The same claw aimed at their new born son, Naruto.

Even faced with the full might of the strongest Bjuu, the whiskered infant was silent, his bright blue eyes fixed on his parents faces, confused as to why the two people in front of him had such odd expressions on their faces. And what the large, angry, orange, furry thing behind them was. He reached out towards them, gurgling at seeing his parents, but stopped, frowning at the anguish that appeared on their faces. Being born of a jinchuuriki, he had the same empathic abilities of his mother. And even though he was barely half a day old, he could sense that something wasn't right. And more worryingly, that the two people in front of him were fading.

Fast.

Minato and Kushina looked down at their son on the sealing alter. If the decision to seal Kyuubi into him had broken their hearts, seeing his round, whiskered face looking at them in confusion had blasted the pieces into oblivion. Given Minato's earlier battle, this wasn't such an exaggeration…

**Flashback**

After settling his son in a cradle, Minato instantly returned to the chamber in which Kushina had given birth. Looking around for her and any sign of the masked man, he spotted the ANBU that had been guarding them, crumpled to the floor with their throats slit. His breathe hitched when he saw the fallen form of Biwako Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage's wife. Rushing to her, he checked her vital signs, but there was no saving her. The kunai in her back was a very clear indication of that.

Suddenly, he felt a massive burst of chakra that only kept increasing in magnitude. He paled at this. It could only be…the Nine Tails! Somehow, the masked man must have found a way to free it. Running from the cave, he knew he had to reach Kushina before the extraction was complete. Before he lost his wife forever…and before Naruto lost his mother.

*Outside*

Minato watched in horror as the colossal fox tore its way towards the village. He could see ANBU and chuunin guards on the wall preparing for battle, but against the strongest of the Bjuu…he sighed, regretting the casualties that he would be unable to prevent. Turning back towards the area where the original outburst of chakra had occurred, his eyes widened when he saw the spiral masked man from the cave, standing over the barely conscious form of his wife.

**Flashback End**

He'd used his Hiraishin to save her, taking her to the same safe house as little Naruto. Even with his relief at her safety, he couldn't help but be amazed at the bloodline of the female Uzumaki. With the extraction of the most powerful of the Bjuu, even he hadn't been sure if she'd survive. But nonetheless, he was grateful. He'd had to face the masked man again, after returning to the battlefield, but what had truly shocked him, more than the liberal use of a bizarre space time ninjutsu that allowed his opponent to avoid Hiraishin, more than the man's skill and knowledge of jinchuuriki and Bjuu, was the fact that the man possessed a Sharingan.

The cursed Eye of the Uchiha's, capable of copying most jutsu, allowing the user to see chakra, anticipate an enemies' next move, and more worryingly…control the Bjuu.

After he'd removed the contract seal from the masked man, the tomoed eyes of the gigantic fox reverted to their original enraged, slitted, blood red state.

The two parents even as their lifeblood left them, smiled at their son. The boys' mother, holding back the fox with her chakra chains, his father, preparing to place a burden on him that would either break him, or turn him into the greatest shinobi to ever live.

The Reaper death seal was no longer a possibility. The boy would grow up with the full power of the mightiest Bjuu sealed inside him.

His parents spoke their last words.

And then the sealing began.

Contrary to what Minato believed, the masked man had not left. He was in fact watching the sealing process, an angry scowl on face.

"Do you truly believe that your village will see him as a hero…Hokage" the man thought to himself. He hadn't intended for another jinchuuriki to be created. His plans were falling apart. Seeing the chakra beast sealed into the infant, and his parents lying lifeless on the ground next to him, he made a decision to further his plans. One which would have an impact far greater than even he could have predicted.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was exhausted. Waiting for Biwako to return, then the Nine-Tails attack. And now the Fourth was dead, along with his wife. The aging Shinobi sighed. "The only possible choice for a replacement Kage at the moment is…myself. Kakashi is still years away from being strong enough, and Danzo…" he shivered. However patriotic the man might be, the ROOT leader was not meant to be a peacetime leader. He could only imagine what Danzo would do with a Jinchuuriki, the son a Hokage no less.

He was carrying the baby back to the village. Kakashi was taking care of the bodies of Minato and Kushina, and he'd sent Genma to contact Jiraiya. His ANBU escort was following, watching for anyone who might attempt to harm the child.

The elderly Sarutobi knew that the villagers would likely not see young Naruto as their saviour but rather as the demon who murdered their beloved Hokage. It was moments like these, where the sheer impossibility of the task ahead, that the former Sandaime Hokage felt as if he'd rather face the third shinobi world war again, rather than stand by while control his village was stripped away from him, piece by agonising piece.

Inside the fresh seal, the lumbering Bjuu collapsed to the floor, the sealing process by the Shinigami had weakened it severely. "Damn you…Hokage…Kushina" the fox growled. Already it could feel sleep approaching, something it had been deprived of for many, many years. And when it finally woke up….

There would be HELL to pay.

Thank you for reading the first chapter of what I hope will be a long, gripping story. Please review, any input may not necessarily be what I want to hear, but it will help me write a better story. Keep well.