The Choices We Make

Chapter One: The Choices We Make

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me in any way, nor do the concepts and characters taken from other already published works. I only have rights to my own creations.

-X-

Three figures sat talking in the confines of kitchen within the Namikaze household, a small but eloquently designed building that served as home to the Yondaime Hokage of The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The first person taking part in conversation was the Third Hokage, now retired from his duties as village leader. Hiruzen Sarutobi, praised as the Professor and the God of Shinobi, now spent his days taking walks in the park and reading his… novels. Despite his feared reputation, which held even in his old age, he was a kind man whose only remaining goal was to pass on the knowledge of the village and its power to the next generation.

Seated closely next to him was none other than the equally aged wife of the Sandaime, Biwako Sarutobi. As her husband had his, she had held the position of Chief Medical Officer within the village, which meant she was pretty much in charge of the entire medicinal goings on within the village.

Across the small wooden table was another famous couple within Konoha, but not nearly as elderly. Standing with his hands resting firmly on the smooth tabletop before him was Minato Namikaze, better known as the Fourth or the Yellow Flash. Dressed in all blue, from his shinobi sandals to his long sleeved turtle neck, adorned with the symbol of Uzushiogakure on the shoulders, he looked very relaxed.

In fact, that itself was the topic of discussion between the four occupants of the room. The original Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Fox, a kunoichi also hailing from Uzushio and wife of the First Hokage, discovered that seal used to hold the Bijuu weakened during the birth of the host's child. To make sure the same almost-catastrophe did not occur again with the second Jinchuuriki, Kushina, they were taking precautions.

This meant, that instead of a traditional birthing in the Konoha General Hospital, the baby would be born outside the village in a secluded, contained area, just in case. If worse came to worse, the Kyuubi would be released far away from the village proper.

The second precaution was the 'staff' that would oversee the birthing. The doctor attending to Kushina would be none other than Biwako herself, an experienced and and extremely skilled medic. Along with them would be a handful of ANBU, meant to guard the doctor and patient as the birth commenced. Finally, the last person who would attend was, obviously, Minato. The reason was twofold; he was the father, of course, plus he was also the resident Fuinjutsu specialist, a field of the Ninja Arts that would be the greatest asset in keeping the demon's seal stable.

Of course, all of this would be keep secret and only those of incredibly high stature in the village would be privy to the information.

"I don't like being left out of this conversation!" Long red hair flew past then as Kushina Uzumaki stuck her head around the corner, her green blue eyes and noticeably large stomach giving her away. The ex-ANBU and decorated ninja, you wouldn't expect someone with the title of red death to be so… cheerful.

With all of them in agreement, Hiruzen decided to go back to his family home and catch up on his reading, a comment to which his wife glared and blatantly called him a dirty old man. He smiled perversely in admittance and disappeared in a swirl of leaves via a Shunshin. Sighing in annoyance, Biwako stood, beckoning Kushina, who kissed her husband on the lips before leaving the compound. The two kunoichis were off to the hospital for an appointment between the aged medic and the pregnant redhead.

Resigning himself, Minato headed to his study, intent on putting together a seal that would keep his lovely wife's tenant in check as their child was born into the world.

-X-

On the way to the hospital, as Kushina and Biwako talked amongst themselves in the crowd of the village, they happened to bump into a good friend of Kushina's; Mikoto Uchiha, wife of the Uchiha Clan Head, Fugaku Uchiha. In the young, raven-haired women's arms was her newborn boy.

"Oh, Mikoto!" Kushina greeted cheerfully, the ever present red-hued blush on her cheeks.

"Good day, Kushina, Biwako-sama." The newly minted mother greeted in response, giving a slight bow while simultaneously giving her red haired childhood friend a small smile.

Gushing over the baby in Mikoto's arms, the Uzumaki women asked rather obliviously, "Huh? It was a girl?"

A sweat drop formed on the forehead of the Uchiha female at the other woman's rather ungraceful questioning, "No… a boy…"

Without skipping a beat, Kushina spoke again, while Biwako herself just smiled down at the small baby held in his mother's embrace, "What did you name him, Mikoto?"

"Sasuke," she answered proudly.

"Oh, after the Sandaime's father!" exclaimed the Uzumaki, while Biwako nodded in approval.

"Yes, so that he will become a fine, strong ninja." She smiled down at her son lovingly, making Kushina all the more eager for when she too would be a mother.

Looking up at Kushina, the dark haired women asked her companion, "Your due soon, aren't you Kushina? You should think of a name ahead of time."

"Oh, I already have!" She answered happily, "We're going to call him Naruto. He'll be the same age as Sasuke-kun, wont he? Oh, I hope they'll be good friends!"

Mikoto and Biwako both smiled at the thought of the Yondaime's son and Uchiha heir as friends, imagining the trouble the two would cause.

"By the way…" Kushina leaned forward and whispered into her friend's ear, an ominous look on her otherwise pretty face, "Does it hurt as much as they say…?"

"Wow… so there are things you're afraid of… I'm surprised!" the Uchiha woman's mouth had become a comical 'O' shape in playful shock.

Instead of retorting, Kushina was pulled away by an irritated Biwako, who was mumbling about troublesome new mothers. Giving a final wave to her friend, the young Namikaze bride allowed herself to be led away as her thoughts drifted to a certain small boy, holed up in her womb until further notice. Smiling, she rested a hand on her enlarged stomach.

'Oh, Naruto…'

She barely registered Biwako berating her for spilling the beans to someone who didn't know, telling her to keep this all top secret, in and out of the village.

She complied and the rest of the journey to the hospital was wholly uneventful, leaving Kushina free to think about all the good times she, her husband and their son would share in the future.

-X-

On October tenth, in an area located deep in the forests of Fire Country, far from the Leaf Village, the atmosphere was serene and peaceful. Except for...

Well, it was peaceful, that is, until Uzumaki Kushina took temporary residence in a nearby guarded cavern to give birth to her baby. Not exactly with discretion as she was obviously in pain.

"Uhm… I've never seen her cry out in pain like this before… Do you really think she'll be okay?" quietly asked a very, very concerned Minato as he held his hands over both the Kyuubi's seal and the Stability Seal he had ingrained into it, keeping the Nine-tails in check even in the weakened state of the host.

The question was directed at Biwako, who was currently administering healing ninjutsu to Kushina to dull the pain, though it only worked so well, "Of course! Just keep an eye on the Kyuubi's seal!"

Still not convinced, the spiky-haired blonde spoke up again, "But… this is…"

"You're the Yondaime Hokage, for God sake, don't just gape like that! Pain like this would kill a man, but women are strong…!" Biwako then proceeded to go into a speech about the power of women and femininity, Minato wisely deciding to tune her out.

Consoling himself that if the serious Biwako Sarutobi was relaxed about the procedure thus far, then he was willing to bet both this wife and son would be just fine. He once again focused on containing the struggling Kyuubi, often glancing at his redheaded lover and smiling comfortingly.

As Kushina continued to push forth her baby into the living world and Minato continued to focus all his energy into to his own task, neither noticed that outside the compound, something unfavorable and definitely not friendly was approaching.

-X-

The final ANBU guard fell to the ground, the entire squad having gone down in less than a minute, without even enough time to raise any form of alarm or warning to their assigned protected persons.

This was to be expected, if one took into account just who they were facing.

The killer quietly snuck into the cavern entrance, undetected and without a sound, waiting for the opportune time to strike and claim his prize.

-X-

With one last push, and a simultaneous final scream, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of the Yellow Flash and Crimson Death, heir to the legacy's of both the Uzumaki Clan, the last clan of Village Hidden Among the Whirling Tides, and the Namikaze Family, was born.

"He's here…" Minato stared down in amazement at the small human being he himself had created, and a sense of love and a want to protect this child came over him.

What shocked him the most was the fact that their hair and eyes were almost identical copies of one another. Naruto's eyes were wider though, like his mother's, among other small differences, but for all intents and purposes, he was a mini version of Minato, with whisker marks.

Kushina looked over, eager to see her son. A humongous grin overtook her face as she spotted the wrapped bundle in her husband's arms. Even though her heart was racing and her breath was labored and she looked a total mess, she felt the need to hold and embrace the two men in her life: her lover and her baby.

"I'm a father!" cried Minato, tears of joy leaking down his face as he laid baby Naruto down next to his ragged wife.

"Naruto…" Kushina cooed, her eyes full of a love unmatched by anything in the world, even her love for Minato.

Biwako took the child gently from his father's arms, beginning to cut of the child from the child and sew up the umbilical cord.

Wiping away his tears, the emotions Minato had previously shown seemed to vanish and be replaced with an extremely serious demeanor, "Alright, love," he looked down at Kushina and spoke softly, "I know you're tired, but your need to exert the rest of your energy to controlling the Kyuubi!"

"Right!" Kushina managed to break her gaze away from the now sleeping Naruto and focus back on her husband, determination shining in her eyes.

Biwako smiled from the sidelines, moving back give them room. Her job was done, and now it was the Yondaime's turn to show off his skills in his particular field of work.

She never even had a chance.

Without any warning, she fell to the ground with a dull thud. Minato whipped his head around to see Biwako's body sprawled out on the ground, blood oozing around her in a puddle.

"Biwako!" Minato called in alarm, unable to rush over to her aid as he had the Kyuubi to worry about.

And in that millisecond his focus left the seal in front of him and his newly born son, little Naruto was snatched up and captured by the killer of both Biwako and the ANBU.

"NARUTO!" cried Kushina in anguish, seeing her baby by being held by a hostile stranger. Said stranger was garbed in a long, flowing cloak, obscuring all but his pale hands; one of which had Naruto tucked into the crook of his arm and chest tightly, while the other was held ominously over Naruto's small head, ready to end the newly created life.

She tried to stand and punish whoever this individual was for having the gaut to try and hardm her son, her Naruto, but she could not stand. She was pushed back not only by gravity and the lack of strength due her current state, but by Minto who looked her in the eye and shook his head. She could not move and totally disrupt the sealing.

Both parents looked on in horror, unable to move lest they release the Kyuubi once more upon the world, but also unable to ignore the fact that this man had not only killed all their guards and Kushina's midwife, but was now about to murder their son.

"Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze…" the man spoke in a voice that sounded both quiet and forceful. He lifted his hooded head, revealing not a face to the young ninja couple, but an orange mask, "Step away from the Kyuubi's host…" the man's hand inched closer to blonde babies head, "…or this child won't live a minute longer."

"Who are you? How'd you slip past the barrier?" demanded Minato, standing and losing focus on the seal, though not completely, still channeling chakra into it to keep it stable as stable as he could.

The man didn't answer; he simply twitched his fingers slightly.

A stare down was taking place between the two ninja, as Kushina tried to sit up, only to fail as pain racked through her entire body, "AHH!"

"Kushina! The Kyuubi's seal is still-"Minato was cut off as the mystery man spoke again, "As I said, step away from the host. Or don't you care what happens to your son, Hokage?"

"Wait, calm down!" Minato tried to reason, only to be met with one of the most terrifying sights of his life.

The man suddenly through the bundle that was Naruto above his head and pulled out a kunai knife from somewhere inside his cloak, stabbing it upwards, aiming for the babies small chest as he fell, "No, you're the one who needs to calm down, Minato. I... am perfectly calm!"

"NARUTO!" screamed Kushina once again, even as Minato' eyes become cold and he vanished in a flash of sparking yellow. This time, he left the seal to unravel. This was his son after all.

The kunai was pushed upwards into… nothing but air, the hooded man looking to the wall behind him, immediately spotting Minato sticking to the stone surface with chakra as he held baby Naruto protectively in his arms.

The unnamed ninja smirked behind his orange mask, "I'd expect nothing less from Konoha's hero, the Yellow Flash."

It was then Minato noticed the number of exploding tags attached to the bottom of the blanket that held his son in its warm embrace, and his eyes widened in shock.

Ripping Naruto's naked body from the swaddling, he flashed away at the same time the tags went off.

The form of Minato Namikaze skidded to a halt outside of the blast zone, lowering his wife to the ground as he did so. It was hard enough to flash with one additional person, let alone two, but he had too. Grabbing Kushina had been extremely difficult to do, but he had to get her to safety as well.

Wincing as he pulled a stray piece of wooden shrapnel that had lodged itself in his shin, he once again flashed away, Naruto still in his arms. Re-appearing inside the home he shared with Kushina, he placed Naruto on the bed, forgetting the small they had prepared for him, 'Dammit, he's after Kushina and now I'm not with her…!'

Naruto shifted in his sleep, bringing a smile to the young Hokage's face despite his wariness. Tucking the blankets around the blonde babies' body, he spoke quietly, "Hey, Naruto, I gotta go get your mom right now, so just wait a little while. You'll be safe here. I love you, son."

With a flourish he grabbed his cloak, the letters for four upon it, tied on his headband, and with that, he flashed yet again, leaving the room quiet and undisturbed, except for the rhythmic breathing of Naruto.

-X-

In the small amount of time Minato and Naruto were gone, the unknown shinobi approached Kushina's still form, "What do you want from me?"

The man spoke in that same oddly powerful and disturbing voice, "To take Kyuubi from you and destroy Konohagakure."

"Why!" she yelled, still unable to move.

The masked Nin looked down at Kushina's exposed seal, 'So Minato has added the markings for his Hiraishin no Jutsu into her seal, has he? I don't have much time then…',. "Minato is always protecting you, but now… he is not around to save you. And furthermore, your seal is weakened from the birth."

The mystery shinobi paused for a brief moment, "Do you know…" he chuckled quietly a small bit, "how long I've waited for this moment?" With those final words, the mans eyes suddenly became visible through the eye holes of the mask, and Kushina gaped in abject horror, for what she saw was none other than a fully developed Sharingan, the blood red iris distorted by the madly spinning tomoe markings.

"The Sharingan…!" she whispered in a cold, harsh noise.

The man chuckled darkly, "Yes, the Sharingan! My sharingan!" With that, both eyes changed and shifted into something Kushina did not recognize; it looked like a Sharingan, but the pattern was different and unique.

The next thing Kushina knew her world had warped into something twisted and induced by the Uchiha bloodline.

Everything was colored in grayscale, the scenery something out of a horror story. A series of jagged rocks jutted from the pitch black waves, to one of which she was chained to. Her metal bindings swerved and slinked around the other obstructions of stone, creating a giant spider's web of linking metal.

Kushina struggled for release, but even a skilled kunoichi like herself could do nothing against the illusionary powers of the Copy Wheel Eye.

In front of her was the man, still garbed in the same cloak and mask, hiding his features. From behind her, she heard the telltale sound of a large object rising up from the water below, sending currents crashing against the other structures and ripples running through the dark liquid.

Following that was something terrifying to anyone, anyone, who has ever had the misfortune of coming across it; the furious roar of the great Kyuubi, Demon Kitsune. Kushina's bloodshot eyes nearly popped out of her head as the fox's rage exuded outward. She had conquered the Kyuubi, as was required of it's host, but here, weak and powerless, she had no influence over it.

Another cackle escaped the man's lips from behind his coverings, "How joyous." He stared up at the object that had risen above their heads; a great ball of earth, covering the crystal white moon of the genjutsu in an eclipse. Chained to the spherical rock, the Kyuubi struggled, each of its limbs and tails impaled with a stake and tied to the earthen jail.

The masked ninja's Sharingan eyes started to spin once more, even faster than before. An image of the same madly whirling eye started to appear in the iris' of the Kyuubi, before receding, though the effect had taken hold.

The metal stakes and chains that bound the Kyuubi started to come loose, and within a short amount of time… fell from their places. Red chakra started to seep up and around Kushina's still captivated body, her eyes rolling back into her head as the markings of her seal spread across her entire form. With the bubbling, evil chakra of the Kyuubi being forcefully ripped from her system, she screamed in pain, unable to hold back as the excruciating process went about.

The unknown man was putting forth all his focus, control and chakra into this unsealing jutsu, his hands held firmly in the common molding hand seal, "Now… come on out of there Kyuubi!"

With that shout, the stakes shattered into broken rock and links of the chain snapped; the Nine Tails, strongest of the Tailed Beasts and King of all Kitsune was once again free to wreak havoc upon the earth.

Raising its furred head high into the air, it howled up at the moon, more reminiscent of a wild wolf than a fox, but a paralyzing sound nonetheless.

The illusion faded and Kushina fell to the hard dirt under her. Looking up at her tormentor, she just knew under that mask of his, he was smirking in the most evil way imaginable.

The man scoffed, "The Uzumaki Clan really is amazing… You were able to survive even after your Tailed Beast was extracted from you, eh?"

Even though the genjutsu had disappeared, the Kyuubi did not. Its massive form still howling up at the moon high in the starless night sky.

The redheaded wife of the Yellow Flash groaned in agony, "Wait…"

Without even a glance at the woman struggling to move underneath him, he stared up at the crimson colored demon, which was spreading destruction in the surrounding forests, "Now, off to Konoha."

Finally acknowledging that Kushina was writhing around on the ground, he spared a look at her, the annoyance clearly seen in his visible eye, "What to do with the host… Oh!"

As if on silent command, the Kyuubi's blood colored gaze fell upon the equally red haired woman below it. A clawed hand rose in the air and a moment later, came sweeping down to rip her body to shreds and end her life.

Though Kyuubi was incredibly fast, nothing was faster than light, and that was the speed of which Minato could travel with his technique. Just in time, the blonde Hokage flashed to his wife and grabbed her, immediately flashing to a treetop a ways away, where he had placed one of his special kunai.

"Is…Naruto…alright..?" asked a very broken and worried Kushina, laying limp in her lovers muscled arms with almost no light in her eyes anymore.

Minato smiled down at her, in the back of his mind still thinking she was beautiful, even in this state, "Yes, love. He's in a safe place now. "

"Thank god…"

Glancing over his shoulder, Minato listened as his wife spoke, "Minato, stop that man and the Kyuubi… they're heading for Konoha…!"

Nodding, Minato flashed in a spark of gold once more, he and his wife appearing in the same room Naruto was sound asleep in. Laying her barely breathing form down next to their son, he kissed her softly and then vanished, off to fight for his village and for his family.

Kushina hugged her son tightly, though it pained her entire body to move, and looked over at the table in the room, noticing her husbands white coat and headband were gone as well. He was off to battle. She hugged the baby boy tighter, "Be safe, my love…"

The small blonde shifted in his sleep, bringing worried look to her sweat streaked face, "Oh Naruto…"

-X-

As the villagers and shinobi of the village changed shifts for the skeleton crew, the unnamed masked shinobi hid in the shadows of a deserted street. He had simply Body Flickered from the location in the forest and cloaked his presence, undetected by the security and unnoticed by the population. Speeding through hand seals and with a quick swipe of a kunai, drawing blood from his hand, he slammed his palm onto the ground, calling out, "Summoning Technique: Kyuubi!"

The Demon Fox almost instantly appeared amongst the buildings of Konoha, immediately going about destroying all that surrounded it and ending the lives of those who were at the worst place at the worst time.

Ninja jumped into action, teams and squads attacking the great demon with shouts of "Hold it back until the Yondaime gets here!" and "Stop it from going farther into the village!"

Even with all the attacking numbers, the Ninetails killed dozens in seconds; no one could compete with its unrivaled and raw power. The Sandaime too, had joined the battle, but even his great skill was no where near enough for the strength of the demon.

As if by some miracle, it was at the most horrible moment that a large flash of golden light blinded all around, even the Kyuubi, and as the vision came back to both the men and the beast, they turned their sight onto the savior of the Leaf, the Fourth Hokage, robed in his battle cloak and looking every bit like the champion the Leaf needed him to be.

Standing atop his own head carved into the Hokage Monument, he glared down at the demon, "So you sensed me, huh?"

In response, the Kyuubi opened its mouth, gathering a giant amount of demonic chakra there and forming a black sphere of energy, which launched at speeds surpassing sound at the blonde haired ninja.

Flipping through quick hand signs and tossing one of his kunai at the blast, Minato used a variation of his personal space-time technique to send the Kyuubi's attack far, far away. Though the resulting explosion could still be seen from the village.

The Kyuubi growled in annoyance, a shockwave spreading through the Leaf Village as it did.

Shaking his head in awe, Sarutobi charged at the Kyuubi once again, followed by a legion of ninja, all ready to give their lives for their village and their leader.

Just as Minato was about to jump into the life of death battle himself, his mind already on its way to forming a plan which had any chance of defeating the fox, the cloaked summoner of the demon appeared before him, a kunai in hand.

Dodging the swipe and mirroring the man's attack with his own kunai, his eyes widened in surprise as the knife went through him, and not in the inflicting damage sense. It actually went through him, like the man was only an illusion, solid yet transparent, but the Hokage knew that was not the case.

Minato's wrist was grasped just as the attack finished going through the man, and he felt a pull on his body, mind, and soul. He watched in astonishment as the enemy ninja started to suck his captured arm into this strange spiral portal.

'Space-time jutsu!' thought Minato in astonishment.

Flashing as quickly as he could, the blonde narrowly escaped the technique.

"So he jumped again, did he…? He's fast. I'll have to pull him in quicker the next time."

The man vanished in that same swirl again, reappearing just in front of Minato, who was still climbing up from his landing spot on the ground.

As the man's body took a solid shape, Minato's brain processed everything he knew about the man. How he could control the Kyuubi, how he could use space-time ninjutsu, how he could be strong enough to defeat an entire squad of ANBU without a sound, and finally how he knew the intricacies of the seal, including its weakness.

"There's only one ninja I know of who could do all that…" he muttered,"Are you Uchiha Madara?"

The man smirked under his mask, and flipped back his hood, revealing short and cropped raven hair, "Well he's suppose to be dead… but who knows?"

Minato scowled, drawing two of his Hiraishin kunai, "Why are you doing this?"

Taking a stance of indifference, the man answered, "It's for war… and for peace."

Minato stayed silent, glaring, 'He's no ordinary ninja, obviously. He's better at space-time jutsu than anyone I've ever seen or heard of, and he can control the Kyuubi… I have to put a stop to him!'

The battle continued. Strictly hand to hand, the two Kage-level shinobi threw around kicks and punches, kunai were thrown and attacks were dodged.

The masked man threw his arms down to his sides, kunai attached to chains sliding out from his baggy sleeves.

Charging at each other again, the man dodged a kunai swipe and wrapped his chains around the blonde, trapping him. Flashing out from the bondage, Minato whirled around again, running head on towards the man, who did the same. The Fourth tossed one of his special kunai straight at his opponents' forehead, which went through like a rock tossed onto the surface of a lake, and did no damage. Then again, damage wasn't Minato's intention.

The kunai sailed through the air, and when it was directly behind the man's head, Minato flashed to it, a Rasengan, another of his signature jutsu, already charged up and ready in the palm of his hand.

Slamming the Spiraling Sphere into the unknown shinobi's skull, they both fell to the ground from the force alone, the jutsu smashing and destroying the surrounding earth, leaving a rather large crater.

Minato flashed away again, just in case the man somehow survived and waited for any signs of life.

After a few moments, the masked ninja stood, though he looked worse for wear. Without any time to react, the Yondaime appeared in front of him, and slammed an open hand onto his chest; the unnamed ninja immediately recognizing the arcane symbols that flowed out from the point of impact.

"A Contract Seal!" He knew he was unable to become intangible; that last attack had taken too much out of him to dodge, and now he couldn't properly perform his warping technique.

"Yes!" Answered Minato, his face completely serious, "The Kyuubi's will is no longer yours to control!"

-X-

Back in the village, the Kyuubi was still spreading chaos, though there was a pause in its mass slaughter as the demon's vision lost focus, the shinobi taking advantage of it and attacking with more vigor.

The demon fox's eyes once again became a spinning Sharingan, the tomoe coming to a stop before the image faded out into the beasts regular iris. The Kyuubi's vision refocused, in control of itself once more.

With a deafening roar, it began its rampage again. In its rage, it blamed the loss of control on the pathetic mortals that surrounded it, sentencing them to death without a second or more logical, thought.

On the plus side for the defending force, in the brief moment when the Nine Tails had stopped its attack, the ninja of Konoha, under the leadership of the Third, had managed to push the great demon back, outside the village walls.

-X-

The two incredibly powerful men stared each other down, one from behind a strange mask.

"You were made Fourth Hokage over Orochimaru for a reason, I suppose. You wounded me and stole away my control of the Demon Fox… But it will be mine once more. I have many means at my disposal, Namikaze."

Without waiting for a response to his ominous declaration, he vanished in that same swirling space-time jutsu.

Somehow knowing that what he had been told was true, Minato involuntarily dreaded with a shudder before refocusing and flashing from where the heated battle had moved to his village.

He once again stood on his own stone figurehead over the village, checking the damage. While terrible, they could rebuild. Though he felt saddened and guilty for the many Leaves who had died in the attack, he knew what he must do to stop more from burning in the fires of the afterlife.

Minato flashed once again, his chakra reserves noticeably draining with each use of his teleportation technique. Appearing in the sky above the Kyuubi, where he had thrown a kunai just moments ago, he sped through hand seals as gravity pulled him down. In a plume of white smoke, a gigantic toad appeared, a sheathed knife at his side and a pipe hanging from his mouth. Easily half the size of the Demon Fox, he was the second largest being on the battlefield, and on top his head was none other than Minato himself.

Yelling down to his summon, Gamabunta the Toad Boss, he mentally apologized for what he was about to do, but it was the only way, "Just hold it off for awhile; I know how we can defeat it!"

Gamabunta nodded in response, already grappling with the Nine-tails, "Kid, you owe a drink after this."

Minato smiled despite himself, and nodded.

"Hurry Minato, even I can't hold it back for very long!"

Without answering, Minato flashed yet again, reappearing in the room he had left his wife and child, preparing himself for what he was about to do.

A mortal, even a Kage, had no chance at defeating the Kyuubi, the strongest being on the face of the earth. Thus they had to seal it using a host, just as they had done with his wife when she was a child. Obviously she was too old now for the seal to take, as you had to be very young, and furthermore was near death from the removal of the Bijuu, but… they had another host now.

Naruto.

Spinning around with his eyes closed, already explaining his plan to his wife, he walked to the edge of the bed. He opened his eyes and reached down for the baby, only to stop, frozen.

Where his wife and child once lay was… nothing. There was no one there.

Whirling around, he called out for them in hysteria. Searching the room, knowing he had very little time, he quickly spotted a small slip of paper on the closed door that lead to adjacent room. Rushing towards it, he ripped it from its spot and looked upon it in both relief and horror.

The sheet of paper simply read:

'I'm sorry, Minato. I cant subject our Naruto to the hell you are willing to put him through. With all my love, Kushina.'

Minato knew trying to track her on a regular land route would be impossible, as even in her broken state of health. She was much stealthier than he. So, with only one option left to him, he tried to use the Hiraishin seals ingrained into her Containment Seal, and waited for the now regular feeling of his body being pulled at the speed of light to another location.

But the feeling never came.

He shook his head at his brides tenacity, and also his own stupidity. Kushina was the person to originally teach him the basics of Fuinjutsu, and he himself had explained the Flying Thunder God technique to her, so it was natural that she could counter its use.

This meant he was now unable to track her at all. He sighed deeply; he was impressed. She had figured out his plan to use Naruto as the new host, and not wishing the same fate she bore on their child, she fled. Her love as a mother far surpassed her love for Minato, and for Konoha.

He couldn't condemn her… he would have done the same, if the roles had been reversed.

Resigning himself to what now must be done, he flashed once again to Gamabunta. Staring down at the fallen bodies of his soldiers, he called out to the great Demon Fox slaughtering his men, "Time to die, Kyuubi!"

The Bijuu roared, amused that the puny mortal before it thought he could kill its immortal self.

Flipping through a long series of hands eals, Minato placed his hand on his own naval, "Shiki Fujin!"

The Kyuubi suddenly felt very cold and within moments, a ghostly apparition appeared behind the form of the Fourth. A being so terrifying, even the Kyuubi became docile. The Shinigami, the God of Death, the Reaper himself, stood as a grim specter over the war torn land, his white robes billowing in an unfelt wind.

Glaring down at the Nine-tails, the Death God reached forward, his bone white hand slipping astrally through the Fourths torso, and impacted the Kyuubi. The skeletal appendage tore through the flesh and bone of the demon's chest with one swift tug, the demonic soul of the greatest of the nine Tailed Beasts was removed and pulled into the blonde Hokage, who twitched in immense pain but kept his focus and stood firm.

The Kyuubi's body dissipated as soon as the being's soul was torn from the living entity, and the once enormous form of the fox faded out into small wisps of red chakra.

The Shinigami looked down at the mortal who had summoned him and nodded, the almighty divine showing his respect for the Hokage's selfless deed. With a much lighter pull than before, the Death God tugged forth a swirling pillar of blue and red energy from within Minato's body.

The massive pillar of the Fourth's and Nine Tail's soul was raised above the hand of the Reaper, and began to condense. When fully pulled into the form of a bright purple sphere, the Shinigami tossed the object into his mouth, closing his sharpened teeth around it.

Minato's body began to waver, and in a moment of intensity began to fall. Gamabunta vanished, the contact disappearing, a terrified look upon his amphibien visage. Minato's last thought before he left the mortal plane was that his wife and child, wherever they may be, were safe.

Then, it was over, and the Death God, unseen by any but the Fourth, his summon and the Demon, disappeared as mystically as it had come.

The shinobi stayed silent for a single moment, many dead, many wounded, but more than anything else, a good portion still alive and well.

They did not see the body of their leading, his corpse, fall from such great heights. And if they had, they had no idea what had transpired above them. The Fourth was dead.

-X-

A figure jumped through the tall trees of Fire Country, her body showing obvious pain and possibly injury, but she continued nonetheless.

Wrapped up in Kushina's arms was the swaddled body of little Naruto, still peacefully asleep. The only other things she carried with her was a travel pack, filled with scrolls, within which were sealed various mementos and things from her shared home with Minato.

She could never go back, and even if she could, it would be a decade or more before she, or her son, were able to. She would spend many years living in fear of that masked man, and even more years guilty for what she had done.

But she knew she had made the right decision. Even if her lover had asked for Naruto to be seen as a hero, the villagers would never be able to accept that the boy was only a jailor, not the prisoner.

She could not, would not, damn her baby boy to the same burden she had barred as a child, but without a father, and quite possibly, without a mother.

If she hadn't so long ago learned medical jutsu and discovered her mediocre skill for that field of ninja arts, she would never have survived much longer after the unsealing.

Without once glancing back, she slowly ran through the canopies, her son safely tucked into her loving arms and her mind on the one place she could take safe refuge.

The remains of Uzushiogakure.

Her home.

-X-

Happy fanfictioning!

ATrulyRecklessDreamer, formerly known as Hakkyou Niyaniya.