Naruto

A Moment in History

Chapter 1

The Darkest Hour

It was a massacre. The village hadn't been the least bit prepared for the utter malicious destruction which fell upon it. The Kyubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, the most powerful tailed demon in the history of the world had descended upon the Hidden Ninja village of Konohagakure like a vengeful god.

Superstructure was crushed and shattered as it appeared as if out of the air itself. Clawed hands and feet digging into the ground, destroying homes and taking away countless lives. Its great roar shaking the very rock of the towering Hokage Mountain and decimated everything within twenty meters of it. Countless people fled in every direction, carrying what they could.

But within moments of the beast's arrival the village's considerable army of Shinobi fell upon it. Hundreds of men and women flew across the rooftops and through the streets of their home towards the huge colossus.

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, looked up from his vantage point at the creature, dressed from head to toe in his old armour, almost amazed that it still fit. He caught a puff of smoke from the corner of his vision, and relaxed when he recognised him as a member of the ANBU black ops. The man was dressed from head to toe in the traditional armour, a katana sheathed to his back and a mask on his face.

"Sandaime Hokage-sama." The elite operative called out, "It's the Kyubi. The Kyubi attacked the village without warning!"

The old man nodded his head, while tying his last metal armguard in place, "I know, I'll hold it back. Gather and protect the villagers!"

"Yes, sir,"

"Did Kushina's seal fail," Hiruzen wondered out loud, "Were all the safe-guards we put in place really not enough?"

The elderly man thought of his wife in that moment. Biwako was the midwife, in charge of helping Kushina give birth. What about Kushina, Minato and their child, what happened to them? He quickly perished the thought. There was a battle to fight, a village to defend. He would worry about his wife and successors family later.

The elderly Hokage took a deep breath, bent his knees and took off to the rooftops with a chakra propelled leap, ready to rally the forces of Konoha against this threat.

He rushed from rooftop to rooftop towards his destination, the main street of the village, stretching from the Hokage palace to the main entrance of the village. He stood there, knowing that an army of Ninja were forming ranks all around him. The grand army of Konoha was forming with him as its centre-peace.

He bit his finger, and making the hand seals for the boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram before slamming his hand into the ground, circles of black runes appearing on the cobblestone. An explosion of white smoke summoned his contracted partner, the monkey king, Enma. The summon appeared before him, already formed in the symbolic huge staff which he was famous for. Without a word Sarutobi grabbed the staff and fell into a defensive position.

"Everyone," he shouted, knowing all could hear him, "Move out!"

"Yes, sir," over a hundred voices replied, immediately and without hesitation.

"So you noticed me already?" Minato asked, more to himself than anyone else as he surveyed the great beast before him. The monster starred at him with eyes of malice and hate, which he returned it with a cold indifference which would have chilled most opponents.

Instead the Kyubi opened its maw. A ball of dark crimson energy swirling into existence, at the same time the Yondaime Hokage brought his hands together in a simple sign, completing his Jutsu just as the fox fired its lethal salvo.

"Not on my watch!" The ball of energy, strong enough to obliterate the very mountain he was standing on, was swallowed up by a black void, completely erased from existence in a single second. Silence fell before the explosion came, but not in the village, a huge dome of blinding light appeared in the distance, completely annihilating a stretch of forest a mile wide.

Minato let out a breath, before settling his gaze on the beast once again. His first thought was that he needed to find his predecessor, and let him know about what happened. He needed to join his fellow Kage and rally the army against this threat.

The Yondaime caught movement from the corner of his eye, and moved with reflex born from years of combat experience and training. He spun on his heel. A three pronged kunai in hand as he moved and stabbed the deadly weapon right into the side of the head of his attacker.

The man wore a black robe, his face completely hidden by an orange swirling mask. The same man who threatened Naruto's life and nearly killed his beloved to take control of this monster.

For a moment the Hokage thought he had him, but he was wrong. Looking on with shock as the man reached through his hand like a wraith and grabbed his wrist. The Yondaime Hokage looked into the emotionless visage.

"You will face me," the man said with conviction, "And were done!"

Minato knew a space-time Jutsu when he saw it. He felt his vision blur as his body was forced from one dimension to another. Quickly he activated his Hiraishin, his Flying Thunder God technique, vanishing in a flash of white from the man's attack.

"He teleported," the assassin muttered, looking at the hand which only moments ago held his targets wrist, "Talk about fast. Next time I'll warp you the moment I lay my hand on you!"

Without another word he vanished from existence, like a wraith from the ancient legends. He was completely unaware that three sets of eyes were watching him from further up the mountain, on the very top, looking over the edge, stood three figures, covered from head to toe in long, flowing black cloaks, hoods completely obscuring their features from any curious eyes.

The first who spoke was the soft voice of a woman, "So that's what the Kyubi looks like eh?"

"Yea," the central figure replied, also starring at the beast.

"Hn," was the nonchalant reply of the other.

"That gets annoying after a while," the other man replied, only to be given the universal gesture to go screw himself. He chuckled.

"So what's the plan," the woman asked.

"You're asking me?"

"You do have a plan, right?" the other man replied, turning his head to look at his companion.

"Are you kidding," the first asked with a mix of surprise and disbelief, "I'm making this up as we go."

"I should have known,"

The leader turned to look at the companion to his right, "Go to the hut on the other side of the valley. Try and save my Mother and as many within as you can."

The young woman nodded, before vanishing in a swirl of wind and leaves. Before the leaves even settled the first turned to his compatriot, their eyes unflinching. "You get the bastard, track him down and help my father defeat him."

The other nodded his head, but remained for a moment, "What are you planning to do?"

The leader turned to look at the monster rampaging through the village, "I'm going to fight fire with fire."

Minato landed in a heap, immediately jumping to his feet and fighting the wave of nausea which hit him from a split second use of the technique. Immediately his thoughts were in turmoil. His strike had slipped straight through him, but his opponent became solid enough to immobilise him in place. The move he used was powerful, and a second later he would have been trapped or killed. What the hell was that?

He watched as the mask appeared, a swirl of black lines which slowly took a shape and materialised, showing his opponent to him once again. The man said a few words with a certainty born of a warrior with considerable combat experience, "You won't escape me!"

Minato starred into the swirling orange mask once more, his mind already rushing through all the evidence to a logical, or illogical conclusion. This man used the same technique he used when he kidnapped Kushina, a space-time Jutsu if he interpreted the signs the way he did. He defeated elite members of the ANBU black ops without alerting him, got past the most powerful top-secret barrier techniques the village had, and knew that Kushina's seal would be at its weakest when she was giving birth. Furthermore with the seal undone he marched right into the heart of the village, took control of the Kyubi no Kitsune and set it lose against Konoha.

The more he thought about it the more insane he thought it was. But there was no other explanation. Only a handful of men were capable of such feats, all either dead or unquestionably loyal to him and the village. There was only one man who was capable of all of this and had the intent to do it.

"Are you Uchiha Madara?"

Any other time Minato would consider this a stupid question. Uchiha Madara had been considered dead for many years. Instead of responding the man reached up with gloved hands and removed his cowl, revealing black hair around his mask. Even then Minato began to doubt his own thoughts.

"No, that can't be possible. He's long dead."

"Oh," the man replied idly, "I don't know about that."

Minato frowned, "On second thought it doesn't matter who you are. But why did you attack Konoha?"

"Oh you know," the man replied, tightening his hands into fists, "its fun. It's part of my plan to start a war…to bring peace!"

Minato's seasoned mind was already going through the pros and cons of fighting his opponent. He was a worthy enemy to fight. He wielding space-time Jutsu like it was Childs plays, besting the Nidaime Hokage's and even his own abilities. He was able to control the Kyubi no Kitsune and summon it right into the heart of Konoha. If he didn't stop this man here and now he would be a greater threat to the village than the Kyubi could ever be.

The man who could be Madara Uchiha came right at him, a chain appearing in his hands, "There's no hope for any of you!"

Minato countered, lunging at his attacker with his specially made kunai already in hand. He would get his strike in first. His attacker's movements were too slow to evade him. He watched as he went straight though him, as if the man he thought was Madata were a simple elusion made to catch him off guard.

He watched as the long chain looped around him, making him completely immobile against his enemy's next strike. He turned his face to watch as his attacker began to loop another circle of metal around him. Then he activated his Hiraishin, and was gone, reappearing ten meters away, crouched like a predator and ready to strike.

Minato had already analysed his opponent's movements and main attacking Jutsu. If this was the Uchiha Madara of legend then he was considerably weaker than he was in his prime. It could either be because he was directly controlling the Kyubi, or his age was hampering his movements. Attacking Minato at all was a big risk for his opponent, especially if he could only keep the Kyubi summoned and controlled for a short period of time. It was all down to timing, and speed. Whoever strikes a split second earlier would win.

The two charged, and Minato threw his kunai directly for his opponents head. He watched as it slid through as if he weren't even there. By the time it had broke through to the ringed end he and Madara were face to face. Madara was a few inches away from grabbing the Yondaime, yet the Hokage already had a fully formed Rasengan ready in his right hand.

Madara smiled behind his mask, he had won. "Gotch-"

Before he could finish the Yondaime vanished, only to reappear directly above him, already driving his Rasengan directly onto his back. Minato had teleported to the kunai he had just thrown. It was an incredible move, more based on luck than ability.

"That was the Hiraishin no Jutsu," Minato explained as he felt his Rasengan slice through skin and cartilage, "Version two!"

The following explosion was immense, enough to send fissures cascading through the rocky ground and send tons of stone and debris flying in every direction. Madara faded back into existence at the edge of the destruction, rapidly releasing and inhaling ragged breaths, right hand moving to grab the left, which remained limp, blood dripping from the digits of his fingers.

He barely had time to breath before Minato was there, right in front of him, kunai already stabbed through his abdomen. He released a sharp breath before levelling a glare upon his opponent. The symbol which activated the Hiraishin no Jutsu, he must have placed it somewhere on his body. Minato raised a hand, and slammed it onto his chest, circles of sealing runes stretching out across his clothing, burning through to his skin.

"A contract seal," Madara thought out loud, "Are you trying to pull the Kyubi from my control?"

"No," Minato replied, his voice a dead monotone, "I've already done that. He's no longer your weapon!"

As if on cue he heard the Kyubi's roar of anger and outrage, the very noise spreading across the landscape, across the valley which Konoha rested in. Minato immediately cursed his lack of attention as his opponent vanished into nothing, reappearing on top of a ridge above him.

"You deserve the title of Yondaime Hokage, really you do. Managing to wound me and wrest the Kyubi from my control all in one attack." He knew the man was glaring down at him, "But it will be mine again. The fox and this world will bow to me. Many doors are still open."

His whole body began to lose cohesion and swirl, all around the centre-point of his mask. But something happened. He was half gone, and then the technique seemed to reverse itself. His body slowly reforming into its normal state, Madara looked down, his mask obscuring his face, but Minato had a feeling he was surprised.

"What-" was all the man had to say before another voice echoed behind the assassin. It was cold and calculating.

"Where do you think you're going?" from the darkness a figure appeared, his face half hidden behind a billowing black cloak and deep hooded mask. Minato could make out a short sleeved white shirt, open at the torso, black pants with a dark blue cloth which stretched from his waist to his knees. Around his waist was a purple rope tied in a bow, and a katana sheathed in a black scabbard to the small of his back.

But it was the eyes which got his attention. It was impossible not to see them. They seemed to glow from the shadows of his hood, Crimson irises with three black tomoe markings, spinning in a clockwise motion, a fully formed Sharingan. "We are not finished here Uchiha Madara, not by a long shot!"

Kushina hugged Naruto tightly, not wanting to let her baby go for even a second. He was her baby, and she would protect him for as long as she was able. That was her way, and she swore to whatever gods that were listening that she wasn't going to change it now.

Minato was out there right now fighting for them, it was all she could do to honour him and stay alive. The removal of the Kyubi no Kitsune from her was a harsh and unforgiving experience, sucking the life from her. If she were not blessed with the long lifespan and the incredible regeneration of the Uzumaki clan then she would already be dead.

Of that she had no doubt.

She opened her eyes, forcing her tiredness aside, and looked at the beautiful face of her sleeping baby boy. He was so beautiful to her, his sleeping face, the whisker markings on his cheeks, that tuft of blonde hair was all perfect to her. The result of her and Minato's love was this child. How she would love to live and watch over him, raise him, and see him become a young man she and Minato would be proud off.

It seemed so cruel that she be taken from him, just after he had been born.

She looked across the floor of the small hut she was in, her turquoise eyes looking at the fallen bodies of Biwako Sarutobi and Taji, two dear friends who she trusted to serve as the midwives in her birth. Both were dead now, killed by the orange masked assassin, she had no doubt of it and shed tears for them.

She heard a creak from the wooden oak door leading to the outside, and turned to see a single figure, his or her form concealed in a black cloak and deep hood which hid their features. Immediately she panicked, thinking that this newcomer was another assassin to kill her and her baby boy. She tried to rise, but found that she could not even manage that.

"Oh my," the figure spoke in a soft feminine voice as she surveyed the room, "What a mess."

She then turned her head to her, and seemed to let out a sigh of relief, "Good, are you Uzumaki Kushina?"

"Yes," Kushina replied, angry at answering so readily but otherwise unable to do anything else. "Who are you?"

The girl reached up to her hood with delicate pale hands, pulling it away to reveal a head of shoulder length pink hair, pale features and piercing emerald eyes which were almost mesmerizing to look at. The girl barely looked eighteen years old, yet her eyes contained the wisdom of a person twice, maybe three times her age. She smiled serenely as she spoke, "Boy Naruto wasn't kidding, you are quite beautiful."

"Who are you?" she found herself asking again.

"Oh sorry," the girl apologised, "I am a friend, and I'm here to help."

"Sandaime-sama,"

Sarutobi looked over at the man who spoke. A member of the Hyuga clan if his eyes were any indication, "Yes,"

"I think you should have a look at this," the man replied, veins growing in the skin surrounding his eyes as he activated his Byakugan. "There's someone walking towards the Kyubi."

"Are you serious?"

The old man looked at the mass of wreckage and destruction surrounding the monster. He had ordered his men to fall back. Any who got close to the creature were ripped limb from limb. Only a handful was left of the original strike force, and they were either running or fighting for their lives. He saw one Ninja retreating from the battle, almost dragging a young boy with him.

A single man walked, almost serenely, down the main road towards the beast, the only highway not covered in debris from the surrounding houses and structures. For a second he thought the man was Minato, by his spiky blonde hair. But the clothing he wore, although similar, was completely wrong. The trench coat was not white with red flames around the hem, but a dark crimson with black flames. He did not wear the traditional camouflaged green uniform or the flak jacket of a Konoha Shinobi. In fact his clothing was a little sore on the eye, a bright orange jumpsuit with traces of black and a dark amber flak jacket.

The man stopped within a hundred feet of the beast, not looking harried at all from its incredible spiritual pressure. If anything he seemed to be laughing in delight. He stopped, starred at the beast for a heartbeat and placed his hands together in a sign he was unable to see. But his voice was all too clear, it echoed through the valley, through the forest, through the village itself as if it was meant for his ears.

"You want a fight huh?" the man seemed to ask the creature, "I'll give you a fight!"

In an instant everything between Hiruzen and the Kyubi was covered by a sudden white smoke, completely covering everything between the Sandaime Hokage and the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Then a roar, as powerful and deadly as the Kyubi's could be heard from the wisps of thick mist.

I can't take this anymore. I have to write something about it. I know it's a little late but if you're not following the latest releases of the Naruto manga then don't read it beyond this point, otherwise have fun. If you're wondering check mangastream or mangafox for the newest releases, though I would recommend the stream because it's a good twenty four hours quicker, lol.

This is an idea which has been plaguing me for a few weeks, and I have had enough and decided to put it onto paper, or cyberspace. It will only be a few chapters long so don't worry so much about my other works of fiction. Some authors need to write something else to get their thing going again, and I'm no different.