Disclaimer: I don't own it.

A/N: My first Naruto fic! Despite the fact that this is a Fem!Naru fic it's not going to be overly shippy. Friendshippy, yes but as most of the main characters are twelve there won't be anything serious.

Children make you a better everything. Daughters open up a whole different sensibility to you. When you have children, it focuses you on them as opposed to on yourself.

~Andy Garcia

Prologue: In which everyone in Konoha has a very bad day. (Especially a fox, a Hokage, and a very little girl named . . . Well, no one's quite sure what her name is but that really is the least of her problems)

Namikaze Minato was having a very bad day. Not only was he coping with the stress of being a new father but his paperwork was piling up, he hadn't slept in nearly forty-eight hours, and his wife was dead. Plus there was the whole issue of the giant demon fox attacking his village. The past few days at the office had been stressful, indeed.

The sounds of the battle going on just outside the village were muffled by his office's walls and for that he was thankful. His people were dying by the hundreds, fighting for their lives and he couldn't afford any distractions as he worked to find a way to save them. He'd barely had time to glance at his new daughter before he'd been forced to return to his desk. However, he knew that if he didn't do something soon he would never get to see her at all. Konoha would be destroyed and he would die before he let that happen. Things did not look good. In fact, if they weren't all busy on the battlefield he would have sent one of his aides to take a quick picture of her, just in case.

He tugged at his hair causing the sunny yellow spikes to stick up even more than usual. He was tired, grieving, and frustrated. He couldn't remember when he'd last eaten or the last time he changed his clothes. He probably looked like shit.

"You look like shit, kid."

Minato's head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice and he felt an instinctual surge of relief before his brain processed what the other man had said.

"You think I look bad sensei? You should see the people coming away from the battle. They look a hell of a lot worse than I do," he snapped, angry with the older man for his casual attitude.

"I know," Jiraiya said, pushing himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against and moving towards his former student. "I've already been down there. They're dragging them back to the hospital in pieces. I helped for a bit before I came to bring you this."

Jiraiya slapped a slightly blurry Polaroid down onto his student's cluttered desk causing the younger man to glance up from his work for a moment before dismissing him.

"Pictures of naked women aren't going to help me now sensei," he looked back down at the complex seal array he was working on without glancing at the picture. His former sensei was a good man and an even better shinobi but his perpetually laid back attitude meant that his concept of what was and was not appropriate during a time of crisis was, well, skewed.

"Stupid, ungrateful brat! You didn't even look at it. How do you know it doesn't contain the answer to all our problems? " Jiraiya sounded smug.

"Does it?" he asked, voice flat and tired. It didn't and he knew that but he still had to ask because anything, absolutely anything no matter how crazy or far-fetched, would be better than what he had in mind.

"Well," Jiraiya faltered, "No. No it doesn't. Still a great picture though. You really should take at least a glance. No matter how busy you are I can guarantee that you'll want to see this. She's a very pretty girl if bit younger than I usually like 'em."

Minato looked up at the Sannin's pleased expression then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Killing the older man would be a waste of his time and energy at a time when he didn't have any of either to spare. He set down the ink brush he was holding, picked up the picture, and felt all the air leave his chest as he found himself staring straight into the wide open blue eyes of his brand new baby daughter.

A bitter, choking laugh clawed its way out of his throat. How do you know it doesn't contain the answer to all our problems? He was holding the picture so tightly that it was starting to tear.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" His sensei looked unnerved. That reaction obviously hadn't been the one he was expecting.

"Irony is a bitch. I hate it. I really, really do." He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this bitter and angry at life. Probably when Obito died. It just wasn't fair. Not to him, not his little girl, not to anyone.

"Brat," Jiraiya said and Minato was pleased in twisted sort of way to see that the older man was beginning to look seriously uneasy at his student's uncharacteristic venom, "If you don't tell me what the hell is going on right now I will beat it out of you Hokage or not."

"You said it yourself Sensei," Minato picked up the picture and gave it an ironic flourish, "The answer to all our problems right here in one little picture, one little girl."

Jiraiya didn't respond. He simply stood on the other side of the desk waiting for his former student to continue.

"It's impossible to kill a bijuu," he said voice low and weary. He could feel the bitter anger draining out of him leaving only despairing resignation in its wake. "With the lesser tailed beasts this doesn't pose much of a problem, they can be sealed away in an object. However, the more powerful the bijuu is the more difficult it is to seal. In fact it's impossible to seal the higher-level demons inside inanimate objects. Because this is the Kyuubi an animal would not be strong enough to contain it would escape from its prison immediately if it even got there in the first place."

Minato could feel Jiraiya's impassive gaze become first disbelieving and then horrified in quick succession as the full meaning of what his student was saying finally hit him.

"Kid, you don't mean that you intend to seal that thing inside a person –"

"That's exactly what I mean to do."

"No," Jiraiya said, voice firm, "We'll think of something else. There's still time. With the two of us working we'll be able to –"

"To what, sensei?" Minato asked, voice hard, "Find another way? A way that will make everyone happy? There's no time for that. The monster is at the gates! The point where a happy ending was possible has passed! This is already a tragedy. A little more misery will hardly be noticeable."

Minato took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. He needed to calm down. If he got too worked up, if he thought too hard about what he had to do then he would never be able to do it. In an attempt to rid himself of at least a little of the tension running through his veins he pushed himself away from his desk and crossed the room to the window. Unfortunately the view brought no relief. The towering form of the Kyuubi was visible in the distance and was getting closer every second. His fingers griped the windowsill hard enough to crack the plaster as he watched another barrage of jutsu bounce harmlessly of the beast. Unable to watch any longer he spun away from the scene violently only to be met with the heavy weight of his old teacher's gaze.

"Trying to seal the creature into an adult would be useless. Their chakra coils wouldn't be able to handle it. They would die before the sealing could take and we'd be right back to where we started," Jiraiya's voice was as cold and serious as he'd ever heard it. He didn't respond, letting the silence stretch between them, tense and razor sharp.

"You intend to seal it into a child."

It was not a question but Minato answered anyway, meeting the other man's gaze calmly, his chin raised high and posture rigid.

"Yes."

Minato tried to prepare himself for the question that would inevitably follow. Yet when it came it still pierced his chest like a katana.

"Your child."

For a few moments the only sounds in the room were those of the battle drawing ever nearer as the two men stared at each other. If Minato clenched his fist any tighter he was going to draw blood and he could tell that Jiraiya was in much the same predicament. The Sannin's eyes had gone almost impossibly cold and hard. Minato sucked in a gulp of air and answered as firmly as he could.

"Yes."

Jiraiya made no response, simply stood there with his sharp, accusing eyes until Minato could bear it no longer and turned away. He walked back to his desk and gathered a small stack of papers, fighting desperately to regain his equilibrium. He felt Jiraiya's presence begin to move towards him and held up a hand signaling the other man to stop. His eyes did not move from the seal that rested on the top of a bundle of papers.

"I have already discussed everything with Sarutobi-sama. This will happen. Your approval is neither necessary nor requested. There is nothing left to say. Please leave," he made his voice as cold and empty as he could manage. The sealing needed to begin soon or it would be too late.

He closed his eyes in relief when he felt the older man begin moving towards the exit in silence. The door creaked open and then Jiraiya paused to give one final parting shot before leaving the office as quietly as he'd entered.

"Kushina will never forgive you."

That was fine.

He'd never forgive himself.

Lady Hurricane

The Sandaime Hokage stared down at the small, warm bundle currently trying to squirm its way out of his arms. Despite the hardships that had plagued the early hours of her life the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was a happy, active baby who was perfectly content to watch the world go by with her big, curious blue eyes. Unfortunately, the world, or at least Konoha, hadn't adopted a similarly accepting attitude towards her. In the two weeks since her birth there had been no less than seventeen attempts made on her life. He'd been forced to assign several ANBU to her on an around the clock security detail and with the village still trying to recover from the beast's attack that was a drain on resources that he wouldn't be able to afford for long.

He sighed, exhausted. The last two weeks had been one long stretch of no sleep and disappointment. He didn't think he'd ever been so angry with the people of Konoha. Aggravated? Certainly. Frustrated? Constantly. But he'd never been enraged, never been truly furious until now. It was horrifying to see normally sensible, good-hearted people turned bloodthirsty and vengeful by prejudice. The council had even gone so far as to demand the child's execution.

That, of course, was absolutely not an option. Unfortunately that left him with very few courses of action to choose from. Originally he'd hoped that the storm surrounding her unusual circumstances would die down and she could be raised within the village like any other orphan. However as the weeks passed that option was looking less and less appealing simply because the storm wasn't dying down. At all. Allowing her to grow up in an environment of such constant hatred and resentment would be unhealthy at best and irreparably damaging at worst. As much as he hated the idea it seemed that the only option was to have her raised outside the village.

He stroked the little girl's soft cheek and smiled tiredly as she burbled, happy and incoherent at him. Truthfully he was loath to give her up. Not only because it seemed far too much like exile but because he would miss the little thing. She was so sunny and joyful, so much like her mother that having her in his office had been no hardship.

However, the relocation would be for the child's own good. He had spent days agonizing over a suitable guardian to entrust with the girl's care before he had finally made a decision. He only hoped that Jiraiya would be able to find her quickly and that once he did he'd be able to convince her to return to the village she hated to speak with her former teacher. To say nothing of course of the struggle it would be to get her to take on the task when and if she did get here.

He held the baby out at arms length and studied her as she squealed and made a valiant attempt to grab his hat.

"How can someone so tiny cause so much trouble?" His voice sounded wry and more than a bit dismayed even to his own ears.

"It's in her blood. Just look at her parents, Kushina especially. She was a tiny lady but she could wreak havoc like nobody's business."

Only long years of practice kept the Hokage from startling at the voice of his student. Jiraiya had always been a sneaky kid and the talent had only become more pronounced as he aged. Still, the Sandaime thought with a frown, the fact that anyone had gotten the drop on him while he was at work was troubling. It meant that his guard had been lowered to an inexcusable degree. He really was getting too old for this job. He shook off his melancholy thoughts quickly enough, however, and turned to face the younger man lounging against his office door.

"Jiraiya," he said his voice dry but still pleasant, "I take it you've found her. Has she agreed to meet with me?"

"Nice to see you too, sensei." Jiraiya's said in as wounded a tone as he could manage, "How's my cute little goddaughter? She at least looks happy to see me."

The Sandaime sighed and handed the little girl over to the other man, waiting patiently as he cooed at her.

Eventually Jiraiya heaved a heavy sigh and forced his attention away from the child with an obvious effort. Sarutobi hid a smile. That little girl had two of the most powerful ninja in the world wrapped around her tiny fingers. She'd be a force to be reckoned with someday.

"She's agreed to meet with you tonight but she refuses to come into the village. There's a small town about three miles away where she and Shizune have set up camp for the night." Jiraiya paused looking rather sadder than was usual. "She– she isn't doing very well. I don't know if she's going to be able to take proper care of the baby in her state even if she does agree to take her in."

Sarutobi sighed. "Be that as it may she's our best option right now. It's obvious that the child cannot remain in the village and therefore I cannot take her in. As her godfather you'd be my next choice but I'm going to need you in the field and that's no place for a baby. As her godmother and last living relative Tsunade really is the only one left who can keep her safe and teach her what she needs to know."

Jiraiya nodded grimly but still didn't look entirely pleased with the solution. Both men stared down at the baby cradled in his arms.

"I just hope that's enough to convince her to do it."

Lady Hurricane

Tsunade was not having a good day. She was broke, hung over, and far too close to the village she'd sworn to never set foot in again. When Jiraiya had suddenly shown up at the inn she was staying in two weeks ago her first instinct had been to throw him out and then leave town. But before she could make that first move, before she could slam the door, she had caught sight of his face.

Jiraiya had looked old.

It didn't take her long to understand why. His student was dead, Konoha was barely standing, and his goddaughter had been made into a living sacrifice for a village incapable of gratitude. It was a horrible situation but at first she couldn't see what it had to do with her.

Then of course Jiraiya had dropped the bomb. The baby was not just the daughter of the Yondaime. She was Kushina's as well. The two had apparently gotten married secretly several years before.

"They would have sent you an invitation," Jiraiya had said snidely, "But as you didn't see fit to leave directions when you ran off it would have been a waste of time."

Tsunade remembered the younger woman well. She had been such a vibrant person, always laughing and smiling and talking. The news that she was dead because of something as stupid as a lack of available medical personnel was galling. Her memory was the only reason Tsunade had agreed to return to her former home.

However, when the time had come she simply couldn't bring herself too set foot inside those gates. It was hard enough being as close as she was. She felt every one of her nearly fifty years.

Now she was sitting in the bar of some hole-in-the-wall crap-shack waiting for her former sensei to arrive with the child in question. Whether or not she would actually take the kid in would depend on what the old man was willing to offer her in return.

She forced back a groan as she felt Shizune fidget excitedly next to her. She'd offered her apprentice the night off but the girl had been eager to meet the baby and more than a little afraid to face the teammates she had left without either explanations or goodbyes.

They sat in silence for a few more moments before she heard the door of the inn creak open and felt two large chakra sources enter. She didn't react, simply continued sipping lazily at her sake. Shizune on the other hand leapt out of her seat and greeted the two new comers in an excited whisper. Tsunade supposed that they were lucky she hadn't shouted from sheer exuberance instead and so didn't scold her for her childish behavior.

Tsunade sighed heavily and pushed her drink away from her as she felt her former teacher and teammate settle down on the barstools to either side of her.

"Hello Tsunade." The voice coming from her left was old and tired but just as commanding as she remembered from her childhood. "It's been a long time since I last saw your face although time seems to have treated you very kindly indeed. What is your secret?"

"Uh-uh sensei. Weren't you the one who told me that good ninja never reveals their secrets? Or have you grown so senile that you've forgotten?"

Sarutobi laughed. "As sharp tongued as ever. It's good to see that you haven't changed too much in all these years."

Tsunade smirked almost fondly and turned to greet him, ignoring Jiraiya as had been her habit since childhood. Her former teacher looked as old as he sounded. Age and stress had exacted a large toll from the man, but his eyes were still sharp and his back was still straight and she had no doubt that he could still pound her into the ground during a spar, especially considering how much she had let herself slip in recent years.

"Oi, hime! What's with ignoring your old teammate? And you say I have bad manners!"

Tsunade whipped around in her seat and was prepared to give the white-haired idiot his customary whack on the head when she caught sight of the tiny baby cradled in his arms. She was cute, although considering whose child she was that wasn't terribly surprising. Tsunade's expression softened. She could already tell that the girl would be almost the image of Kushina, though it was already apparent that she would have her father's coloring.

She reached down and easily plucked the girl from Jiraiya's arms, holding her protectively to her chest. She turned around once more so she was facing the Sandaime.

"You let that idiot hold the baby? Maybe you really are going crazy sensei." Although her words were customarily harsh her voice lacked venom.

"I assure you," he answered wryly, "I watched him like a hawk the entire way. I was half afraid he would run off and use her as a prop for picking up women."

Tsunade ignored the indignant protests coming from her right and examined the little girl more closely. While it wasn't obvious from far away she had several distinctive characteristics that marked her as a demon container. Her ears were slightly pointed and her pupils were rather more elongated than was usual. Thankfully neither should cause her developmental problems as she grew.

Tsunade carefully unwrapped the blankets surrounding the girl and unsnapped her tiny pink pajamas, sending tendrils of chakra into the baby's system to check for anomalies below the surface. The joints were all normal and while the muscles and reflexes were more developed than was usual for a baby her age that was no cause for concern considering what clan her mother belonged to. The seal on her stomach didn't seem to be having any negative effects on her chakra coils, which, due both to her heritage and her unusual circumstances, were already highly developed.

Tsunade suppressed a sigh when she looked up to find both Jiraiya and the Sandaime watching her quietly. "She's perfectly healthy. The seal isn't doing her any harm and there are no other problems that I can sense."

There was a brief, terribly uncomfortable silence before, "What's her name?"

Two of the three legendry ninja barely repressed the urge to flinch. Tsunade, long used to her apprentice's ability to make people forget she was there, just smirked.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "We don't exactly know." He seemed ready to stop there but at Shizune's horrified look he scrambled to explain. "Ah, well you see, it's a funny story actually–"

"She doesn't have a name? What was her father thinking not even giving her a name before sealing that thing in her?"

Thankfully before Shizune could really warm up to her rant the Sandaime managed to interrupt. "On the contrary, she has two names. Apparently her parents couldn't agree on what to call her so they both filled out a birth certificate without telling the other."

Tsunade let out an appreciative bark of laughter. That did sound like Kushina and from what she understood Jiraiya's student had been an orphan as well. It was only natural that both would want their daughter to carry on their respective family names.

The third waited for her to calm down for a moment before continuing, "To protect her from her father's political enemies we have decided to seal the one he filled out away until she is able to protect herself. Her other name, Uzumaki Tsunami, will be a matter of public record."

"Will you tell her who she is? I understand that it's necessary to protect her, but to do so at the expense of her heritage . . ." Shizune's voice trailed off.

"When she is old enough to understand she will be told everything. Until then it will remain an S-class secret as will the prisoner she holds."

Silence descended on the group once more.

"Tsunade, you know what I'm asking you. There is no other choice for this child. You are all she has left."

Tsunade didn't answer immediately. She would take the baby in, of course. Now that she'd seen her she knew it would be impossible for her to leave any child of Kushina's to the life of isolation and hatred that awaited her in Konoha.

When she spoke her voice was soft but firm. "If I agree to do this I will do it my way. She will be told the truth about the burden she carries from the beginning. I won't have it hidden away as if it were something shameful or disgusting."

"If you think that that is best then I will not interfere. All I ask is that she return to Konoha once a year to visit and that, should she want to, you'll allow her to return to become a ninja when she 's ready."

Tsunade nodded sharply and held the baby closer. The two men stayed for a little while longer, saying goodbye to the child and making arrangements to have her things delivered in the morning. The girl seemed to come to life after the somber mood that hung over most of the meeting lifted and was currently waving and cooing at an enthralled Shizune.

Uzumaki Tsunami eh? Tsunade thought to herself as she watched her two charges interact. Shizune gave an indignant squawk and Tsunade had to smile as her apprentice attempted to disentangle the infant's hands from her hair. She was a strong one.

They'd be fine.

A/N: Okay so first chapter down. I'll try to ensure that this will be updated on a fairly regular basis but sometimes life has to come before fanfiction. I'm also looking for an experienced beta who will not only fix grammar but will poke me when I'm dragging my feet in getting a new chapter done.

As always reviews, especially ones containing constructive criticism, are both appreciated and adored. : )