Chapter 1

The Beginning of the Legend!

[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This fiction is just for fun.]

"Character Dialogue"

Character Thought and Inner Sakura

"Telepathic Conversation"

"Jutsu"

"Demon /Summon"

"Fourth Hokage... Minato, back away from the Jinchuuriki or your son dies at the ripe old age of one minute," the masked intruder said to the blond haired Hokage while holding a kunai over a newborn baby.

Said the baby had the same shade of blonde hair like the Fourth Hokage... his father. The little guy was sleeping peacefully, not knowing what kind of dangerous situation he was in.

Minato was a fairly tall, fair-skinned man who shared physical appearance with his son—both of them had bright, blue eyes and blond hair. How did he break thought the barrier? Who the hell is this guy? he thought without taking his eyes from the stranger who was holding his newborn son, Naruto, as a hostage.

"Aaah!"

That was when he heard a scream… a scream of his wife; he quickly turned and looked at his wife to make sure she was alright.

Uzumaki Kushina, who was also happened to be the second Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, was barely holding the seal that had weakened because of childbirth. She had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, fiery red hair—a common trait among the members of the Uzumaki clan—with strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parted her hair to the left, keeping it out of her eyes.

The seal's not done, Minato thought. He was worried the Fox could break the seal holding him captive and escape from it.

"Aaah!" Kushina screamed again, as Nine-Tail forced more chakra to escape from his prison.

"Kushina!" Minato said, as he worried for safety of his son and wife.

"Back away from the Jinchuuriki... or don't you care if your son dies?" the masked intruder asked again, his words becoming more impassioned as time passed.

"Hold it, j-just clam down!" Minato said with worry laced into his voice, as he held his left hand up in a placating gesture.

"You should take your own advice, Minato. I'm perfectly calm," the masked man said, and he tossed baby Naruto up.

"Naruto!" Kushina cried out in terror at the thought of her child being hurt.

The masked man attacked with his kunai toward the baby's aerial form, but acting quickly, Minato disappeared and reappeared behind the masked man, holding his son in his hand.

"You live up to the 'Yellow Flash' moniker," the man said calmly. He was clearly impressed by Minato's speed. "But what now?"

Minato looked down in horror as he found exploding tags on the blanket.

Tag blasted off.

"Naruto! Minato!" Kushina screamed in a horror.

Minato flew out of the smoke and debris with unharmed Naruto in his arms. His three-pronged kunai was sticking into the ground just a few meters away from him.

He looked down at his son and said with a great relief after seeing him unharmed. "Think god... You're not hurt... Oww."

He cried in pain.

He looked down at his leg to see a splinter of wood stuck in his leg. He gasped as he took it out. He's after Kushina... He forced me to use my Flying Thunder God technique to separate us! Gotta hurry!

Throwing the splinter of wood that had stuck in his leg, he disappeared with his son and reappeared in his safe house that was somewhere on the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf village that he had utilized in case of an emergency.

…oOo…

Meanwhile, with Kushina, the masked man had bound her to several large rocks by the seal that imprisoned the Nine-Tails. She stood in the center of the rocks and stared at the man before her while sweat dripping down her face from the exhaustion of giving birth.

"What... are you after?" she asked, panting tiredly.

"I came to rip the Nine-Tails from your stomach and use it to crush the leaf," the masked man answered simply.

"What?"! Kushina exclaimed. Her panting had been becoming worse.

"Minato's teleportation technique uses a special marking that lets him instantly move from one marking to the next," the man said in a neutral tone while looking at the seal on Kushina's stomach. "I see he's incorporated it into the design of your seal... so he would always be there to protect you... But I managed to get away from him. And the seal has been greatly weakened from the birth..." He looked up at her. His lone eyes turned red with three tomoe circling the pupil... Sharingan. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment?"

His tone of last sentence caused Kushina's eyes to widen in shock.

…oOo…

"You'll be safe here."

Minato laid the newborn son onto a small bed with rails surrounding the sides. "You'll wait on your own for a little bit, Naruto." He covered his son with a blanket to keep him warm. "I've gotta go save your mom before it's too late."

He looked at the sleeping face of his son for last time before flashing away.

…oOo…

Back with Kushina, the masked man was inside of her seal where the Nine-Tailed Fox tied to a large rock with chains and stakes piercing each of his tails. The man focused his lone Sharingan eyes at the Fox, as the beast tried to his best to nullify the effects of Sharingan. However, in the end, he failed. His large slitted eyes changed into the pattern of three tomoe, which eventually faded back in the background.

The Nine-Tails roared, breaking all registrations that held him to the massive rock and started to melt.

Outside the seal, however, Kushina screamed, as the violent red bubbles of chakra exploded from her body, feeling like she was being burned alive.

"Come forth, Nine-Tailed Fox!" the masked man shouted, as he placed his hands in a seal.

With a mighty ground shaking roar of the tremors, the Nine-Tailed Fox emerged from his host, reappearing in the real world once again after a century.

"We head for the Hidden Leaf Village," the masked stranger commanded before turning to walk away from there.

"S... Stop!" Kushina breathed out tiredly while trying to stand up on her feet.

The man turned around to see Kushina survived the extraction of her tailed beast. "The Uzumaki clan is really something special. Even wrenching a tailed beast out of your body didn't kill you right anyway," he said. He turned to his new pet once again. "It's only fitting for the Nine-Tails to kill his former Jinchuuriki."

The Nine-Tails lifted one of his large claws and slashed down with intending to kill his former host. As his large paw smashed down at the rock she was on, a flash of yellow preceded. The paw smashed place, but Kushina disappeared before she could crush under it.

As the dust settled, Minato was crouching on top of a large tree, holding his wife against himself.

"A small flash of hope... but it's too late," the masked man said after watching the failed attempt of the demon fox.

"Minato... Is Naruto... Is Naruto okay?" Kushina strenuously breathed out. Her face was devoid of life that was extracted out of her with the beast. Bags had gathered under her eyes and mix that with the sweating and weary look on her face… it made her look slightly older than the young beautiful woman she was.

Minato answered, as he grinned, trying to put on his bravado face. "Yes... He's fine. I hid him somewhere safe."

"Oh, thank god." Kushina breathed a sigh of relief before she looked at her husband. "Minato... stop him... stop the Nine-Tails," she warned, a slight tone of worry in her usual cheerful voice. "They're headed for the village."

Minato looked at his wife for a second before teleporting again.

The man raised an eyebrow behind his mask. "Gone again... No matter... On to the leaf!" he said with a faraway gaze into the distance.

…oOo…

Minato appeared in the same room, he had come before, but this time instead of Naruto, he had a tired Kushina in his arms.

"Why?" Kushina asked.

"Never mind why... Just stay with Naruto," Minato said, as he set Kushina down on the bed next to sleeping Naruto.

"Naruto," Kushina whispered, as she hugged her son with a brilliant smile despite the situation. She wrapped an arm around him as he lay beneath the blanket. She pulled him close and the side of his head rested against her own. "Minato, thank you... Good luck." She closed her eyes and slept peacefully besides her son.

Minato clenched his fists in determination as he rose from his place. Going over to the wall where a coat was hung up, he grabbed it and swung it around to wear it. The trench coat had crimson fire licking the bottom with the Kanji for 'Fourth Hokage' vertically stitched on the back.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said to his wife.

He flashed away to stop the masked man and the Nine-Tailed Fox... and save his village.

…oOo…

The man who had attacked the Fourth Hokage and his family and extracted the Nine-Tails from Kushina appeared just inside the village's walls. He slammed his hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" He unleashed the monstrous beast inside the territory of the Hidden Leaf.

The fox roared while his tails smashed buildings and crushed mountains true to his legend causing mass debris to fly away in various directions. Some of the villagers, who weren't caught in the initial assault, looked up at the fox in pure, unadulterated fear.

"Attack, demon fox!"

…oOo…

"Third Hokage-sama!" one of the Leaf Anbu appeared beside the previous Hokage, Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had dressed in the battle suit. "It's the Nine-Tails! The Nine-Tails attacked the village out of nowhere!"

"I know! I'll hold it back, gather, and protect civilians!" Hiruzen said while placing his battle worn bracer on his right forearm.

"Yes, sir!" the Anbu responded, and he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

The Former Hokage gazed at the giant beast while thinking, Did Kushina's seal fail? Were all the safeguards we put in the place really not enough?

…oOo…

Minato appeared on the top of his head that carved into the Hokage Mountain. Looking around from the top of the mountain, he could clearly see the Nine-Tails had been summoned in the center of the village.

The Fox immediately noticed Minato's presence and turned his attention toward the blond Hokage.

"So you noticed me already," Minato said. He saw the Fox had begun to accumulate his chakra to the mouth, condensing it into a large and a lethal ball of energy. "Not on my watch!"

The Nine-Tailed Fox fired a tailed beast ball toward the Fourth from his giant mouth. At the same time, Minato spread his hands out with one of his special kunai held out horizontally. An invisible barrier formed in front of him with a mass intricate pattern of seals suspending in midair. The wall absorbed the attack until there was nothing left. In the forest, not far from him, the same barrier opened up and set off an explosion that rocked the village from the distant and decimated the forest that caught in the blast.

Below the Hokage Monument, the Leaf shinobis watched the tailed beast ball vanished into the some kind of barrier.

"It's stopped the Nine-Tails' attack... That was a space-time barrier jutsu!" a red headed man with purple markings on his cheeks said. His name was Akimichi Chouza, the fifteenth head of the Akimichi clan.

Nara Shikaku, the head of the Nara clan, said, "It's Minato!"

"Everyone move out!" Hiruzen ordered.

…oOo…

Back with Minato, he was preparing to teleport to Hiruzen's side. I have to tell Third what happened.

Suddenly, the same masked man who was responsible for everything rose up from the top of the Fourth's face on the mountain. Sensing the man behind him, Minato arched his whole body in rotator motion and tried to slash his three-pointed kunai into the man's head. However, it just phased through the man's head, causing Minato's eyes widened in shock.

"You will face me," the masked man said, grabbing Minato's wrist, the one that had gone through his head. "Aaand we're done."

Suddenly, Minato's form started to become distorted and began to suck into what looked like some sort of vortex that had opened up from the masked man's eyehole. Before he could suck inside completely, he flashed away.

"He teleported. Talk about fast," the masked man said, shocked at seeing someone had countered his jutsu. He narrowed his lone eye. "Next time, I'll wrap you the moment I lay my hand on you."

…oOo…

Minato landed with a crash at a different section of the forest with one of his kunai stabbing into the ground beside him. He grunted while standing up. My attack slipped right through him. But a moment later he was solid and trying to... suck me into some dimension or something, what was that move? he thought.

A swirling vortex appeared in front of him and a moment later, the same masked man appeared, shocking the Fourth Hokage. "You won't escape me," he told Minato.

Does he use a Space-time jutsu too? Whatever he did, it must be how he moved so far after taking Kushina. Minato's mind began to race with possibilities. He narrowed his eyes at his foe. He defected Anbu under the direct command of the Third, got past of most powerful, top-secret barrier we have, and must have known the seal would be weak while Kushina was giving birth. Then, with the seal undone, he took the Nine-Tails and marched straight into the leaf without so much as pausing to deal with the barrier... There's only one man I can think of that makes sense...

He summarized to himself deep in thought before looking up at the man and asked, "Are you Uchiha Madara?" He saw the man pulled his hood back to reveal short spiky black hair. "No, you couldn't be him. He's long dead."

"Oh, I don't know about that," the masked man taunted.

"On second thought, it doesn't matter who you are," Minato said. "But why have you attacked the leaf?"

"Oh, you know... It's fun. It's part of my plan," the masked man said, summoning a long chain. He attached it both ends of his wrists, "To start the war... To bring the peace."

Minato narrowed his eyes at the masked man further. Whoever he is. He's incredible! He can control the Nine-Tails, wields space-time jutsu that exceed both second and my own, and clearly has evil intentions, he thought. If I don't kill him now, he'll become a greater danger than the Fox. He took his three-pointed kunai out. If I teleport back to the village, he'll follow me and things will get more chaotic. If he really is Madara, then I doubt he can summon the Nine-Tails very long. I'll just have to leave the village in the Third's hands and finish him off right here!

"There's no hope any of you!" the masked man declared, and he charged at Minato.

Minato did the same, but the man became intangible again, allowing Minato to phase through him. The masked man solidified and spun around once Minato was behind him. He pulled the chain and wrapped Minato around the chest with it. However, Minato chucked his kunai to a section of the forest and flashed away, letting the chain simply float in the air.

The masked man's eyes widened slightly.

Minato flashed besides his three-pointed kunai and looked back at the man. He makes his body intangible to negate my attacks, and then solidifies to counterattack. My only shot is to try and trade hits with him, he thought. But attacking at all is a big risk for him. If he can keep the Nine-Tails summoned for short time, he won't want this fight drag on. He spun around and charged again. It comes down to speed; whoever strikes a split-second earlier will win!

As they both charged at each other, Minato threw one of his special kunai at the man who let it phased through him. They got even closer to each other; the kunai's end was almost all the way out the back of the man's head. The same man went to grab Minato's shoulder. Minato had already formed a large blue sphere, Rasengan. As the man was about to touch the Fourth, the kunai slipped all the way out of his head.

The masked man smiled behind his mask and said, "Gotch—"

In a split-second, Minato vanished in a yellow flash, causing the man's eyes to widen. The blond Hokage appeared behind the man and slammed the Rasengan down into the masked man's back before catching the kunai.

The man screamed in the pain as he crushed into the ground. Damn it... He teleported to the kunai he just threw, he thought.

"That was the Flying Thunder God Jutsu-Level two," Minato said proudly. When he looked down, his eyes narrowed. The Rasengan had exploded, literally destroying the ground, but the man had somehow teleported away.

The masked man appeared on a slab of rock nearby. His arm was fluidly being separated out of his body and a white substance was dripping from his wound, but before he could do anything about it, the Fourth Hokage appeared in front him and stabbed him in the stomach with a kunai, making him to spit blood into his mask.

The Flying Thunder God Jutsu! He must've put that marking somewhere on my body! the masked man thought.

Minato then placed his hand on the man's chest where markings suddenly sprouted from looking like the markings fit for a seal.

"A contract seal?" the masked man said, as he recognized the seal. "Are you trying to pull the Nine-Tails free from my control?"

"No, I already did," Minato said. "He's no longer in your weapon."

In the distance where the Nine-Tailed Fox was wreaking havoc, his eyes that held a Sharingan due to his mind being under control of it, reverted back to his red-slit eyes. However, being tricked in such a way only caused his anger to grow more.

The masked man jumped upward out of Minato's range. "You deserve the title of the Fourth Hokage... Managing to wound me and wrest the Fox from my control in one move," he said. "But someday it will be mine again. The Fox and this whole world will bow to my will." He began to wrap himself. "Many doors are still left open to me." He vanished by swirling into a vortex.

Something tells me, Minato thought, he wasn't lying. He gazed at the place previously occupied by the masked man before disappearing in a flash.

…oOo…

Minato flashed into the village to see the Nine-Tails preparing for another tailed beast ball. Though he was glad Third Hokage had managed to hold the Fox, but he had no time for thinking about it. Biting his thumb to draw blood, he slammed it down on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a large puff of smoke that soon revealed a large, dull, rusty red colored toad, Gamabunta, the chief toad of Mount Myōboku, in all his glory, who was barely holding the Nine-Tails.

Minato stood on the top of the chief toad as he looked at the Nine-Tails while thinking about the masked man's words. He clenched his eyes shut. Sorry, Kushina. Looking down at the large toad, he said, "Hold the Fox down for a minute!"

"Look, I may be big, but I'm not a miracle worker!" Gamabunta said while trying to hold the Nine-Tails down.

"I need enough chakra to take him and that blast out of here!" Minato shouted when he saw the Nine-Tails preparing another bigger tailed beast ball. He quickly made some hand seals and a moment later, he vanished with the Nine-Tails, leaving the Toad Boss alone, who latter disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Third Hokage had been watching everything. "Minato... Did he teleport himself and the Nine-Tails?" he said.

A part of the forest, which was a good distance away from him, exploded in a dome of light, most likely from the Nine-Tails' attack.

"Out there!"

…oOo…

The place where the Nine-Tails had been teleported, Minato appeared with his wife, Kushina, and his newborn son, Naruto, in his arms. "Got a put a barrier," he said without taking his eyes from the Nine-Tails. He placed Kushina down on the grass.

"My chakra's almost drained," Kushina said, but she used her last bit of chakra to summon her chakra chains, as several golden chain shot from her back and wrapped around the Fox's tails and body, pulling him to the ground.

"Kushina!" Minato shouted, worriedly that woke up baby Naruto from his peaceful sleep. He began to cry.

"Sorry Naruto, I didn't... mean to wake you..." Kushina said, blood dribbling from her mouth, as she gave her son sad smile.

Minato couldn't believe such a happy day of his life had turned out to be such a nightmare. "Kushina!"

"I'll drag the Nine-Tails... back... and die with it inside me. That'll... prevent it from coming back... for a while. It's the only way to you both... with the little bit of chakra I have left," Kushina said, as she looked at her husband and gave him a smile. "Thank you for everything."

"Kushina, you... you made me husband. You made me into the Fourth Hokage," Minato said, tears sliding down on his cheeks, "You made me this boy's father... and I..."

"Don't look sad, Minato. I'm... I'm happy." Kushina said, as she gave her husband weak smile. "Happy that you loved me." She turned her head around, softening her eyes at the sight of your crying son. There was a small smile on her lips, "Happy that it's… our son's... birthday... Like... if I try to imagine surviving and three of us leaving together... I can't think of anything... beyond 'I'd be happy.'"

Tears continued to streak down Minato's face, as he looked at his wife who was ready to sacrifice herself to both of them.

Kushina looked at her son again. Her heart clenched, just thinking about leaving her child. "If I had any regrets... It would be that I won't see Naruto grow up," she said.

Minato looked down as his hair shadowed his eyes. "Kushina... you didn't need to take the Fox down with you," he said. "We can use our last bit of chakra to see Naruto one more time."

"Huh?" Kushina replied, confused. She tilted her head up, so she could look at her husband.

"I'll seal your last bit of chakra in Naruto with an Eight Trigrams seal," Minato explained. "Then I'll lead the Nine-Tails away with a seal only a non-Jinchuuriki like me can use, the Dead Demon Seal."

Kushina eyes went wide, as she realized what her husband wanted to do. "But that... user will be—"

"But I'll only be able to seal half the Fox's power... It's jutsu too great. It's physically and conceptually impossible to seal it all," Minato told his wife. "I can't let the Nine-Tails be revived without a Jinchuuriki, the balance of tailed beast be destroyed. But with the Dead Demon Seal, I can permanently seal half the Fox's power along with myself. And remaining half..." He paused and looked down at his son as he remembered something his own sensei, Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin had told to him about the destined child. "I'll seal remaining half inside Naruto with the Eight Trigrams seal."

Kushina looked at him as if he had gone mad. She really wanted to yell at him for suggesting something like that, but Minato didn't give her a chance to protest.

"I know what you want to say... but Jiraiya-sensei spoke of the world undergoing a revolution, and with it, a great disaster," he continued to calm his wife down. "Tonight, I've the two things, the first that masked man, the one who attacked you... He is the harbinger of disaster." He looked down at sleeping face of his son. "And Naruto will be the one to stop him. The Jinchuuriki who will blaze the trial to our future. I just... know it." He carefully put baby Naruto to the ground.

At that time, with his trusty companion Enma in his staff form, Hiruzen landed in a crouch just outside the barrier that Minato and Kushina had made to protect the village from the fox's destructive capabilities.

"But... Minato," Kushina said, as she tried to protest his crazy idea.

"Have a little faith. He is our son after all," Minato told Kushina, feeling confident in his decision. He flashed through the nine hand seals to mold his chakra to call the Shinigami.

The spectral spirit eater aka Shinigami hovered behind Minato. Shinigami was much larger than any average human. He possessed long, shaggy white hair, which was wrapped around Minato's soul, from which two red horns protrude, and dark grayish blue-colored skin. It was draped in large white garments and carries a set of prayer beads, and had a tantō in its mouth.

"After I finish the Death Demon seal, I'll place your remaining chakra into Naruto as well," Minato explained. "You'll meet grown-up Naruto sooner than you think. The time will come when he'll attempt to take control of the Fox's power... I want you there to help him."

Kushina said, "Our son."

Minato looked down at sleeping face of his son. "That's why! I don't want him to bear such a heavy burden all on his own," he said.

"But why... why the Dead Demon seal?" Kushina shouted at Minato for his stupid plan. "There's no reason for you to die. Just so, I can meet him for a few minutes when he's older. I wanted you to be there for him... I wanted you to raise him... why... why are you sacrificing Naruto just to preserve the balance of the tailed beasts... to save the village... and the country. Why are you sacrificing yourself to me?"

"Turning your back on the country, on the village is just as bad as abandoning a child. You should understand... You saw your own country fall apart. You know the pain of growing up without a home of your own... and you know we are a family of Shinobi," Minato said. "Besides, Even if I lived I could never substitute for you."

Kushina looked at her husband questioningly.

He knelt down in front of her. "There are things Naruto needs to be told, things I could never say myself. That's the mother's job and I need you to carry it out. Even if you only have briefest of moment to do so," he continued. "This isn't just for you... This is for Naruto." He picked up his baby once more and settled right in front of his wife. "Dying to make a better life for his son… that's the stuff you let the father handle."

Understanding slowly began to manifest on Kushina's face, but she still tried to steel her eyes in a last-ditch effort to go with her plan to save her son from the life of Jinchuuriki—a life of neglect and hatred. She was one of the very few Jinchuuriki who had normal life compare to others.

From his place, Hiruzen was finally able to get a glance of something. In fear, he gasped, "Those marking... It can't be... The Death Demon seal?"

Two of Leaf's Jounins jumped down beside their previous military commander.

"What's happing, Third?" one Jounin asked.

"We're too late. They've put up a barrier around the Nine-Tails," Hiruzen said. He punched on the barrier, but nothing happened. It was too strong to penetrate, even for an experience ninja like him. "Whatever they're doing, they're doing alone."

The devourer of spirit shoved its hand through Minato's stomach and grabbed the monstrosity that towered over him. The fox, who was unable to speak due to Kushina's chakra bindings, mentally cursed when he felt his power being ripped into two.

"Seal!" Minato said.

The Nine-Tailed Fox roared, as he felt half his life force forcibly pulled out of his body with no way to prevent it. As the Nine-Tails' Yin chakra sealed into Minato, causing the Fox shrunk in his size.

My body's gone numb. What a heavy chakra, Minato thought, gasping.

"It's the Death Demon seal. I can't believe he actually used it." Hiruzen breathed in shock. It was the most powerful self-sacrificial jutsu for a reason, but to see such a powerful sealing jutsu used against a tail beast was breathtakingly scary.

"But the Fox remains! He didn't seal all of it," one Jounin said. "But it's shrunk."

Suddenly, a cat masked Anbu landed beside them. "Third Hokage-sama, there's an emergency in the village," he said, kneeling down in front of the former Hokage to show him proper respect.

"What's more important than this?" Hiruzen asked, pointing at the demon Fox.

"We spotted Orochimaru in the village," the Anbu informed.

"What?"! Hiruzen shouted, giving his full attention to the Anbu. Orochimaru was his student, and his greatest mistake… and shame. "Where?"

"Near the Hokage tower."

The Third Hokage's fist clenched as he first hesitated to leave Minato to deal with the Nine-Tails alone, but Orochimaru was an S-rank criminal and seeing someone like him in time like this in the village wasn't a good thing. Orochimaru was his responsibility, so he decided to handle it himself. "Stay here!" he ordered his shinobis before heading toward the leaf to deal with the second problem.

Cat Anbu turned to look at both Jounins when the Third Hokage had disappeared from his view. "Inform him," he said in deeper and much different voice.

All three Leaf ninjas looked at each other and nodded. They changed into identical copies of one person. The person was completely white with short green hair and undeveloped right side—a lone yellow eyes and only one hand. He had what seemed to be cracks all over their bodies and a zigzag pattern running down his midsection. They gave each other nods again before changing back to their previous form.

"Now for the Eight Trigrams seal," Minato said, slamming hand on the ground. In a puff of smoke, a ritual style altar appeared—a basket and eight candles around it. "I'm going to seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto."

The ceremonial throne! He plans to reseal me into that child? the Nine-Tailed Fox thought, watching Fourth Hokage placing a blond child on it.

Kushina's chakra and strength began to fade, as she started to wobble and deep coughing wracked through her body. She tried desperately to breathe that caused her control over the chakra chains to lessen. It gave the Nine-Tails enough time to try a counterattack.

"Kushina! Stay with me!" Minato shouted, as he quickly turned from the throne, he just had laid Naruto on.

The Nine-Tails raised his right forepaw in preparation to slam it down on the blond baby, crushing the only thing between his freedom, as he didn't want to be sealed again in a another vessel. However, his efforts turned to vain as both parents threw themselves in the line of his claw and used their own bodies to stop the claw from reaching their son, fatally wounding themselves in the process. The blood soaked claw stopped a mere three inches above Naruto's chin and the dying parents breathed a relief. Using her strength and chakra, Kushina tightened her chakra chains around the Nine-Tails.

"If a father can do this job..." Minato said, trying to ease some stress.

Kushina picked up on it, and completed, "The mother should be even better... right?"

"Shit, he isn't going to be happy!" the cat masked Anbu said, whom was watching everything with his subordinates.

"Damned human!" the Nine-Tails cursed.

Ignoring the Fox, Kushina glanced behind her at her husband, and rasped, "You win... first argument... you've ever won... I guess... you're really serious."

Minato chuckled. "Thank you, Kushina…" Working as quickly as he could, he quickly summoned a black and orange toad with dark markings around his eyes.

The toad looked around, freaked out seeing the Fox. "Ah, the Nine-Tails!" he shouted before looking at Minato. "And Fourth, what the hell happened to you!"

"Gamatora... I'm entrusting you with the key to the seal... Hurry to Jiraiya-sensei... Store it with him..." Minato said. He plunged his hand into the toad's gut, which caused a scroll to wrap around him.

"Got it!" Gamatora proclaimed, as the seal's key rolled up on the scroll. "Good... Goodbye."

"He's making his son the new Jinchuuriki... He's definitely not going to be happy about this," one faked Jounin said.

Another his partner asked, "But where's he?"

"He's late," the faked Anbu answered. His eyes weren't leaving from the Nine-Tails.

"That does it…" Minato muttered, watching the toad disappeared to carry out his mission. "It's time for me to go, Kushina… I'm going to perform the Eight Trigrams Seal… and try to leave a little of my own chakra in Naruto too… We don't have much time… If you have anything left to say to Naruto."

"Naruto." Kushina bowed her head in understanding. "Naruto, don't be fussy eaters… Eat a lot and grow up to be a big boy. Take your bath every day… Go to bed early and sleep well." She took a pause and looked at her son. "Make friends… It doesn't matter how many… Just make sure they're real friends… People you can trust… Even a few is enough. And study your ninjutsu… I was never very good at it, maybe you will be… Everyone has things they're good at and things they're not… Don't feel bad if you can't do it all. Make sure you listen to your teachers… at the Academy.

And remember to avoid the three voices of Shinobi… Don't borrow money if you can help it. Save what you earn from missions… No drinking alcohol until you're 20, and don't overdo it or you'll ruin your body. And as for women… Well, I'm a woman so I don't know what to say, but there are only men and women in the world, and you'll want a girlfriend someday. Just try not to pick a weird one... Try to find someone like your mother... And the fourth warning… Watch out for Jiraiya-sensei!"

Minato smiled after hearing Kushina's fourth warning.

Kushina paused to smile. A blood poured out of her mouth as it rose up from the pit of her stomach. With tears streaming down her face, She spoke again. "Naruto... You're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering... Remember who you are... Find... A goal... a dream... And don't stop trying until it comes true… Their's… their's…! There's… There's so much more I want to say… to teach you about… I want to stay with you… I love you."

Minato sighed, but kept his mouth shut.

However, Kushina realized it. "I'm sorry, Minato... I took all our time," she said.

"It's okay," Minato replied before looking at his son. "Naruto... This is your dad. Listen to your motor mouth mother."

"You both are fools!" an unfamiliar voice said.

Minato and Kushina's half-dead heads jerked up slowly to look at the intruder, only to see nothing. The voice was raspy and far too calm for it to belong to a member of a search party.

"But I'm impressed. You both still have some strength to live for a few more minutes, even after all that's happened to you. But then again bloods of greatest shinobis are running through your veins," the voice continued, coming closer to them.

Minato and Kushina searched until a black cloaked figure caught their attention. His whole face was hidden behind a large, black hood. The figure walked forward with a calm, slow gait as his cloak separated just enough for them to see a pair of black shinobi sandals.

The man knelt down in front of the blond haired baby. "Such a curious child... Like your parents, you also have the bloods of the greatest shinobis in your veins, but also," the man's hand made contact with Naruto's small head that caused Minato and Kushina gasped in shock, as their son's cerulean eyes morphed into a blood red pupil with a single comma shaped mark in each, "the bloodline of the Uchiha clan… There's still so much you can do, my little one."

Both Minato and Kushina's eyes widened in shock, but only Minato was able to speak a word. "H-how?"

The cloaked man didn't even glance at Minato. He stood up and looked at Kushina, slightly soften gaze. "You look just like your mother," he said.

"M-y mother?" Kushina said, coming out from shock. She looked at the man. She coughed as the blood poured out of her mouth. How does he know my mother?

"How… how does Naruto has Sharingan?" Minato asked. He then glanced back at the Nine-Tails, who was glaring angrily at the cloaked man and struggling to free himself from Kushina's chains. We don't have much time left. I need to seal up the Nine-Tailed Fox into Naruto as soon as possible.

The man ignored Minato again. He was still looking at Kushina. "You've an Uchiha blood that you've inherited from your father, but was sealed by your paranoid mother," he said, shocking both husband and wife again. "But you've still managed to pass down your Uchiha blood... my blood... to your son."

Both newly made parents became speechless after hearing the man's words.

A few moments later, Kushina's mind finally preceded this information. "You... you are my f-father?" she said.

"Yes." The man nodded. Reaching up, he pulled his hood off, revealing his face for the first time.

The man was old with his thin and white hair reaching waist-length and shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face, covering most of his right eye, but both Minato and Kushina could clearly see that he was missing his right eyes. They didn't know who he was, as they didn't recognize his face, but they could feel his power.

As for their answer, it came from an unexpected source.

"Madara!" the Nine-Tails roared, angrily, trying to break from Kushina's chains. "I'll kill you!"

"Shut your mouth, Nine-Tails," Madara said, his voice calm and cold. "You're nothing but a temporary existence of coalesced energy... energy that once was a single, ultimate form!"

Minato and Kushina didn't say any words. The man who was standing in front of them was Uchiha Madara... the real Uchiha Madara. The man who appeared more than once in the history and almost never in a good way.

"Madara as Uchiha Madara," Kushina whispered. Her energy was nearly at its end, as she gazed upon the stoic visage of Madara. One of the founders of the Hidden Leaf, former head of the Uchiha clan... The man who had nearly killed the First Hokage. "Are you... really... my father?" she asked. She had always wondered who her father was. The answer was now front of her.

"Yes," Madara answered.

Minato's heart lurched, his minutes having turned into seconds, as he realized what that meant. "If you are real Madara... then who was that masked man?"

"He was a fake," Madara scoffed.

Minato coughed blood. I don't have much time left, he thought. He was ready to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto.

"Do you really think you are making a good choice?" Madara asked Minato, catching the Hokage off guard.

"What?"! Minato said.

"I mean, do you really think that old monkey is capable to protect your child from Jinchuuriki's harsh life, and will give him a normal life?"

"I'm sure Sarutobi will do anything to protect Naruto. Also, the Leaf's people are so friendly. They'll treat Naruto like a hero," Minato said proudly, as he believed in the people of his village.

"Then you are a fool... As I expected from the descendant of that man." Madara scoffed. "You're very naive. People aren't always as compassionate and understanding as we'd like them to be. A Jinchuuriki life is filled with pain and loneliness. They are never favored, loved, or welcomed in their home village, but I'll not stop you. Do what you think is right. It's already too late to change your mind." He looked at his daughter's husband and folded his arms. It's easy to transport a Jinchuuriki than a tailed-beast. I'll extract the Nine-Tails from my grandson later.

Minato first hesitated as he was surprised at Madara's sudden change in behavior, but he didn't have much time left, so he brushed it aside. "Eight Trigrams Seal!" he said, sealing the remaining half Nine-Tails into Naruto as the Eight Trigrams sealing marking appeared on Naruto's belly.

As payment, Shinigami ate Minato's soul alongside with the Nine-Tails' Yin half, which was sealed inside Minato, as Minato's lifeless body fell to the ground. The spectral spirit eater glanced at the blond baby. His hand touched the baby's forehead before vanishing from there.

"Minato!" Kushina said, taking her husband's hand. She shed tears for him. Her chakra chains disappeared alongside with the barrier, which she and Minato had made to stop the Nine-Tails.

Madara picked up his grandson and walked toward his daughter. He knelt down in front her. "Your husband is dead, but I can still save you," he said.

"No... It's too late for me," Kushina said. She coughed violently, spitting out blood from the mouth. She looked up at Madara, smiled. "Now, I know... my son isn't alone, so I can die peacefully. Take care of him... and tell him I loved him."

Madara stared at her face in shock for a minute before nodding. "I will," he said.

Kushina smiled for last time before closing her eyes. She died with a smile on her face.

Madara stood up and looked at his grandson. "So where is that old monkey?" he asked without taking his eye from his grandson.

A plant like entity emerged behind him. He had short green hair, yellow eyes, and his body had two different colored halves. His left side was completely white, while the right side was almost entirely black. He had two, large Venus flytrap like extensions around him. His name was Zetsu.

"He's still searching signs of Orochimaru," Black Zetsu said.

"Good," Madara said. "Is all preparation done?"

"Yes, it's ready," White Zetsu said.

Madara turned around and walked toward particular place. "Seal my daughter and her husband's real bodies and replace them with fake ones," he ordered.

"Hai!" Black Zetsu said.

…oOo…

Madara reached the place where three white Zetsu's clones were drawing a seal array around one White Zetsu's clone that was lying on the ground and looked almost dead. Madara made a single shadow clone and handed Naruto to him. Real Madara then carefully took some blood sample from Naruto by placing an illusion on him. He walked toward the seal and dropped his grandson's blood on the seal and Zetsu's clone. The other Zetsu's clone placed a jar that contained some Nine-Tails' chakra, which had scattered around place, next to the clone.

Madara made some hand seals and placed his both hands on the seal. The seal lip up with Madara's chakra. The jar opened and the Nine-Tails' chakra wrapped around the clone's body. The White Zetsu's clone's body began to reshape and a few minutes later, his body changed into the perfect replica of baby Naruto, except fake Naruto had whisker-like marks on his cheeks.

Madara looked at other Zetsu's clones who had transformed into Leaf ninjas. "Place him on my grandson's place," he ordered.

The real Zetsu rose from the ground beside Madara to give him a scroll in which he had sealed the bodies of Fourth Hokage and his wife. Then Madara shadow clone came toward him and handed his blond haired grandson to him.

Madara looked down at his grandson. "Time to go, Naruto," he said, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

…oOo…

A few moments later, the Third Hokage with two trustworthy Anbu arrived near their fallen Fourth Hokage and his wife—unknown to them, the bodies were fakes alongside with their son. Third saw two Jounins and cat masked Anbu he had left to watch over the Fourth Hokage's family and the Nine-Tails.

"What happened?" Hiruzen asked.

Two Jounin and one Anbu looked down at their feet.

"Fourth Hokage-sama and his wife sacrificed their lives to seal the Nine-Tails into their infant son," the cat masked Anbu said, and he began to tell everything to Hiruzen "... His last request is treat Naruto as hero for keeping the fox at bay."

Hiruzen saw Naruto sleeping in the ceremonial throne. He walked toward him and picked him up. He looked at Naruto's face. "Naruto, in such young age, you've already lost both your father and mother," he said, sadly, and he looked at his ninjas. "Gather our losses and be ready for the funeral. Also, Naruto's heritage is S-rank secret."

All Leaf ninjas nodded.

…oOo…

Madara appeared on a beautiful, turtle-shaped island with real Naruto in his hand. A few moments later, Zetsu rose up from the ground next to him.

The island, they came, was very large, and appeared to be filled with large forest, which was filled with rare herbs and poisoned plants, and small hills, plus several taller ones, and a mountain as well. It had a spiral shaped lake, similar to the Uzumaki Clan symbol, in the center. This island was once part of the Uzushiogakure before its destruction, so it had many hidden Uzumaki Clan's temples, secret hideout and many more.

"So how is Tobi?" Madara asked Zetsu while trying to put baby Naruto to sleep.

"He's badly injured in his fight with Fourth Hokage..." White Zetsu said.

"... so we gave him a very heavy dose of sleeping serum," Black Zetsu completed.

"Then make sure he'll not wake up until my work's done," Madara said. "I need Hashi's artificial body and power of Gedo Statue to ensure that my grandson will survive in the process of extraction of the Nine-Tailed Fox from his body. And I don't want Tobi to know that I'm still alive." He got nods from both Zetsu's halves. "Good... Go and keep your eyes on him."

While, Zetsu sank into the ground and disappeared, Madara went in direction his secret home that was hidden behind a large waterfall.

…oOo…

It was in Madara's old the secret hideout, which was now a secret hideout of Tobi. The hideout was under the Mountains' Graveyard. The place was big, and had passages that seemingly led to different countries. There was a giant tree in the hideout. Its trunk bore a strong resemblance to

First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. The Gedo Statue, which looked like a giant, earthen-colored humanoid entity with most of its body looking decayed, seated upon a large tree.

Madara walked toward a wooden bed with his grandson in his hand. He put his grandson on it. "It's time to extract the Nine-Tails from you, Naruto," he said.

…oOo…

One Month later...

On the Uzumaki Island, Madara was in a large cave, standing in front of a huge gigantic stone gate that had fuinjutsu marking crafted all over it. In its middle, the gate had a large Uzumaki clan's swirl. Madara made quick hand seal and slammed his hand to the ground. Very thick wooden planks rose out of the ground before wrapping around themselves and formed another gigantic wooden gate in front old gate to add more security in it.

He thought about the things that happened in the last month. His daughter and her husband were dead after sealing the Nine-Tails into their son, but he had successfully extracted the Fox from his grandson using all resources he had. The process was painful and complicated, but it was successful. His grandson was safe.

A White Zetsu stretched out of the cave wall. "Your grandson is awake."

Madara looked at a Zetsu's clone and responded, "Very well."

…oOo…

In a puff of smoke, Madara appeared in old hideout, which was under the Mountains' Graveyard. He walked toward his grandson who was sleeping on the bed while several tendrils had plugged into his body. They were providing him necessary things to overcome the effect of the Nine-Tails' extraction. The other ends of tendrils were connected to the large tree, which was actually a non-sentient clone of Senju Hashirama that created by him in order to harvest his unique Wood Release bloodline limit. It was grown using the Gedo Statue's power as a catalyst.

"So what are you going to do?" Black Zetsu asked, as both halves of Zetsu rose up from the ground.

"Tobi is nothing but a distraction... a puppet," Madara said, picking up his grandson. "My grandson, Naruto, is a real player in my plan."

The sudden cry of the infant cut off their conversation. Madara looked down at his grandson, Naruto. He shocked to see two blue orbs his grandson changed, taking the appearance red colored five-pointed star or pentagrams—the ordinary (point-up) pentagram was in his right eyes while the inverted (point-down) pentagram was in his left eyes. A moment later, his eyes changed into regular Sharingan before coming back to his original blue eyes.

"Impossible! Mangekyou Sharingan!" White Zetsu shouted.

"In such young age!" Black Zetsu said.

"It may be caused by Nine-Tails' chakra; we'd extracted from him, or seeing his both parents' death... After all, the feeling of loss and hopelessness is known by all... even as young as him," Madara said. He looked at Naruto, smiled proudly. "Naruto, you're really a special child... I certainly look forward to see how this new development would turn out."

…oOo…

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was a peaceful village. The children were running around and playing. Ninjas were going in and out of the village to go to missions. It had been twelve years since the Nine-Tails attack. A lot of ninjas died trying to hold off the Nine-Tails. They were all remembered for their courage.

"Naruto!" a voice rang out through village streets.

"Bhahahaha! Hahahahaha!" A twelve years old, blond haired boy laughed while running away from two angry older ninjas.

The boy had average height, blue eyes, blond, spiky hair and whisker marks on his face. He wore horrible orange tracksuit and blue sandals, and had green goggles on his forehead. His name was Uzumaki Naruto. He had paint smeared on the right cheek, his face and he was holding a bucket of yellow paint. If you looked at behind him... at giant mountain, decorated with four giant faces in the background of the city was any indication, it was easy to tell just what the paint had been used on.

"Naruto, come back here! When I get my hands on you!" one Ninja shouted, trying to catch Naruto.

"Hahahahaha!" Naruto continued laughing at two Ninjas.

Another Ninja shouted at Naruto, "You've crossed the line this time, Naruto!"

Naruto jumped on the top of a building to avoid his pursuers, but his pursuers were ninjas, so they followed him up there.

"Haha! Give it up," Naruto said, whom was still laughing at them. "You're just bent because you don't have the guts to do what I do. Do you? Losers! Wannabes! You'll never catch me! Hahahaha!"

The fatigue of the pursuers allowed Naruto to sneak around an alley corner and camouflaged himself in the surroundings before two Leaf ninja could even show up.

"Eh! Naruto hold on!" one ninja said, as he and his partner ran in another direction without noticing the boy.

When they were gone, the blonde headed boy took a peek from beneath his camouflage cloth as his big blue eyes scanned the surroundings before declaring it safe. "Hahaha! That was too easy!" he declared loudly, throwing his camouflage cloth down.

"Oh yeah, Naruto!" a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Aaahhhh!" Naruto screamed, as he jumped up in the air, kicking his legs, and landed hard on the ground. He looked up and saw his teacher Umino Iruka. "Where'd you come from Iruka-sensei? What're you doing here?"

Iruka had a brown hair that he kept in in a ponytail, dark eyes, and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose. He wore the standard Leaf shinobi outfit complete with forehead protector. He gave a Naruto heated glare. "No, what're you doing here? You're supposed to be in class," he said before he dragged the blond back to the academy.

From above building, a raven, who had been observing them from the beginning, flew up in the sky.

…oOo…

A short figure could be seen standing on the top of fourth Hokage head that was carved into the Hokage mountain. From its figure, it was male. He was watching whole The Hidden Leaf Village with his calculating eyes. He wore a simple black cloak with a hood draped over his head. Only his eyes were visible and they were blood red with three-tomoe spinning wildly in them.

The raven, who had been spying on Naruto and Iruka a few minutes before, landed on his shoulder. The raven was larger than any normal raven. It had purple eyes, and its body was covered with purple colored markings.

"Good work, Karasu-chan," the hooded-figure said before looking back at the village. "So this is the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

The person's hand reached up and pushed the black hood off slowly, revealing what it had hidden. He looked about to be a twelve year old, fair-skinned boy with spiky, blond hair that had a slight black tint on it. His Sharingan eyes peered out from an angular face. He was real Uzumaki Naruto, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina as well as the grandson and true heir of Uchiha Madara.

(To Be Continued)